


Our Story

by Doctorsmelody



Category: British Actor RPF, Doctor Who RPF, Mattex - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Family, Flashforward - Freeform, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, OC children - Freeform, Original Characters - Freeform, Original Child Characters, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-30
Updated: 2018-09-08
Packaged: 2018-10-25 20:34:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 50,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10771935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doctorsmelody/pseuds/Doctorsmelody
Summary: The year is 2040, and Matt and Alex are celebrating their 30th anniversary... What better time to tell their children their story, the story of how they got together, through the highs and the lows





	1. And in the beginning

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jose/gifts).



> I'm back!!! I hope there are still some Mattex readers here!
> 
> Sorry I've been quiet, I've been working on this, still not quite finished and it is already the longest story I've ever done, by a very long way! It's done more in the style of flash forwards than flash backs (Everything in bold - if I can get to grips with the formatting on here - is set in 2040, everything else is 'modern day' from the start of 2010, through to about 2020 ish.) I'll keep putting the date in so it's hopefully easy to follow.
> 
> Written for the lovely Jose - thank you for just being there really hun! I hope you enjoy (well, I know you are enjoying it!)
> 
> Here's the first bit, introducing most of the characters!

**22nd January 2040**

**Even after all this time, he still made the effort. Alex woke late in the morning to kisses being pressed to her shoulder, the smell of bacon and eggs filling their bedroom.**

**“Good morning beautiful, happy anniversary.” Matt mumbled against her skin. Alex flipped round in bed, turning to face her husband and give him a good morning kiss.**

**“Morning darling. Happy anniversary.” She sleepily replied, pulling her hand out of the duvet to cup her husbands cheek and bring him closer for a kiss. His stubble scratched her skin slightly, but made it all the sweeter. 30 years with him, it felt like a lifetime. It felt like 5 minutes. He was still just as handsome as the day she had met him though, his hair, now shorter and grey still felt like silk through her fingers, his eyes, now lined with age, matched the wisdom they had held in his 20’s, his body wasn’t as lithe, and he had more problems with his back than he ever had before, but he was still Matt, still her husband, the man she loved more than any other man on the planet. It took a few minutes, but eventually Matt pulled back before their kissing turned into anything more, they didn’t have time for that now.**

**“Have your breakfast, then you need to get up I’m afraid, beautiful. It’s nearly lunchtime and the kids are coming round later for a quiet family meal.” He told her as he took a mouthful of his bacon and egg sandwich, spilling a load of runny egg yoke down his clean shirt. 56 years old, and he still couldn’t eat without making a mess. As much as Alex loved Matt making her breakfast in bed, she knew she would end up having to change their sheets again later that afternoon before they went to bed again that night.**

**“Who’s coming later?” Alex asked once they had finished eating, a quiet family meal could mean just the two of them these days, or it could mean everyone, a number that was getting bigger all the time.**

**“Salome’s coming with Mathias, Lizzie and Melody, Mark will pop by if he gets home from his parents house in time.” Matt started, listing their grandchildren, and then Salome’s husband. “Zach and Lucy are coming too, and don’t worry, he’s assured me her waters won’t break all over the new carpet, I told him if they do then he’s paying to have it cleaned! Rose and James are going to try and make it as well, the twins can’t though, they are both studying, it’s their exams next week.”**

**“Almost a full house then!” Alex commented, knowing she would be exhausted come bed time, as much as she loved her family, having the house full like that always wore her out, especially as she got older. There was only just over a year to go now until she turned 60. “Rose is bringing James? I think that’s the longest she’s ever been with anyone, I wonder whether you might be ‘invited for a drink’ with him soon, if you catch my drift?”**

**“No! Not Rose! Not my baby girl! She’s not old enough to get engaged!” Matt protested instantly. Their daughter had been dating James, a young, handsome boy with a respectable job in accounting, for nearly a year now. He knew she was 24, more than old enough to get engaged, and if she did marry James, he would be more than happy, she clearly loved him dearly, and so did he and Alex. Just the thought that his baby girl was old enough though scared him.**

**“She’s nearly 25 Matt. I had a 6 year old daughter by the time I was her age, be grateful she doesn’t, or Sophia for that matter!”**

**“I know, where’s the time gone though? Now look at us. Five kids, three grandchildren, with a fourth on the way, thinking about how we will spend our retirement. It doesn’t feel like 30 years.” Matt said, snuggling up closer to his wife. No matter what she said, she didn’t look anywhere near her age, she was still beautiful. With her dyed hair, now a light brown, few wrinkles and still with a killer figure, she could easily pass for 10 or maybe even 20 years younger. There wasn’t a day that went by when Matt didn’t acknowledge the fact that he was the luckiest man on the planet, with the perfect wife, and perfect children and grandchildren.**

**“I have an idea how we could spend our retirement. Let’s just say it involves, sun, sand, sea, sangria and copious amounts of sex.” She whispered, running her hand down his body, cupping his length through his chinos with a dirty smirk on her face. Matt quickly batted her hand away, reminding her that their children would be arriving soon, and they didn’t want another embarrassing incident, but left her with a promise of things to come later that evening in the form of a searing kiss.**

**They spent the next couple of hours tidying up a bit, making sure the dining table was ready for dinner and started cooking, falling into the same rhythm they’d used for the last 30 years until just gone 3pm when the doorbell rang. Matt left Alex with a kiss on the cheek, wiping his hands on the apron round his waist (that Alex had insisted he use) before answering the door.**

**As soon as the door was open enough, Matt found his arms full of Rose, his little baby.**

**“Daddy!” She squealed. “I’ve missed you so much.”**

**“I’ve missed you too baby girl!” He mumbled into her hair, just like her mother’s before kissing her on the temple. In fact, she was pretty much the spitting image of her mother, she had his eyes though, and his personality, full of endless energy. “Hi James, come in.” He continued, shaking his daughter’s boyfriends hand. Without a doubt, those two would end up married, he just knew it. Rose finally released him, running through the house like a whirlwind to find her mother, squealing again when she finally found her. They had hoped that Rose would calm down a little once she had gotten her own flat, but evidently it hadn’t happened yet. They spent a while discussing how the redecorating was going in Rose and James’ flat, along with some project’s that Matt and Alex had lined up for the next couple of months, having enjoyed a long holiday between them for the month before until their son and his heavily pregnant fiancée, Lucy, arrived shortly after, followed by Salome with her three children 10 minutes later.**

**“Are Sophia and Seb not coming?” Salome asked as everyone settled in for dinner, asking after her two youngest siblings.**

**“Staying at Uni this weekend, Sophia has a report due this week and Seb’s revising for an exam. They are coming next weekend instead.” Matt answered quickly. “Rather them than me.”**

**“Revising? Or nursing hangovers? Because I remember my university days well… well… I remember the hangovers.” Zach asked, quietening down when he was met with angered looks from his family. “Sorry, forgot who we were talking about.”**

**Sebastian and Sophia were the youngest, and twins. They were as close as it was possible for a brother and sister to be, and insisted on going to the same university in Kent, coming home most weekends when they didn’t have too much work to do. They were a few years younger than the rest of them, and couldn’t be anymore different from their older siblings if they had tried. Where Salome, Zach and Rose had always been a handful, loud and boisterous, Sebastian and Sophia had always been quiet, thoughtful and fiercely intelligent, having always loved school and studying, and seemingly spending their time at university actually studying as opposed to constantly partying like Zach and Rose had.**

**Dinner was loud, full of conversation about the what the future had in store for them all. Nobody though could escape the fact that Matt and Alex seemed even more loved up than usual, having barely let each other’s hands go throughout dinner, frequently getting caught looking at each other and smiling.**

**As the sun set over the horizon, everyone made their way into the living room, where they were joined by Salome’s husband who instantly took their youngest daughter, Melody, off of his wife’s hands, calming her cries because Uncle Zach’s baby wasn’t out yet and she wanted to play with it, much to everyone’s amusement.**

**“30 years ago, had I done it yet, beautiful?” Matt asked Alex, looking up at the time then wrapping his arms tightly around his wife.**

**“Done what?” Salome asked, ever the curious woman.**

**“Asked your mother out on a date. About this time, exactly 30 years ago, I was about to ask your mother out on a date for the first time, totally prepared to get shot down.”**

**“What happened?” Rose asked, leaning forward to hear more of the story, she was such a romantic, and always had been, yet she’d never heard the story of how her parents got together to begin with.**

**“Well...” Matt started, his arm tight around Alex.**


	2. First Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's January 22nd 2010, and Matt has decided that he really likes his co-star Alex, can he work up the nerve to ask her out on a date, and will she say yes?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter, gone back in time to 2010 now, and is all about their first date! Let me know what you think as always guys!!!
> 
> Also, just to clear up any confusion, in this Alex was born in 1981, Matt in 1983, and Salome in 1999!!! xxx

22nd January 2010

He paced the floor of his tiny trailer on set. Why was this so difficult? He usually had no problem asking women out on dates, this wasn’t just any woman though. Alex was his friend. In the six months since he had first met her in the production meeting for their first episode of Doctor Who, they had become close friends. Matt loved spending time with Alex while they had filmed his first two episodes, and he had grown close to her 10 year old daughter, Salome, too – always willing to play football or do some colouring with the young girl on set in his breaks. It didn’t bother Matt that Alex was a little bit older than him, or that she had a child already. In fact, the only thing that did bother him, was the fact that she lived in LA. He thought he had just been friends with an incredibly hot actress, who he may have had a little crush on, it was only once she had left with Salome back to LA that he realised he liked her as more than a friend. He missed her something chronic in the months between filming the Byzantium episodes and then the Pandorica ones at the end of his first series. She had helped him so much through those first two episodes, from listening to his rants about how he was convinced everyone would hate him as the Doctor, how he was too young at just 25 for all of this attention, to giving him tips and advice on how best to suggest changes to scenes, who the best people to make friends with on sets were (apparently it was good to be ‘in’ with the make up artists and caterers because they had all the gossip) and never once moaned or looked bored when he asked if they could run through their scripts one more time as they sat on the floor in her flat drinking into the early hours while Salome slept. He missed all of those things once she had left, and couldn’t stop thinking about her, what they were doing, what the weather was like, whether she had been on any dates. That was when he had decided that as soon as he saw Alex again, he would build up the courage to ask her out.

At the read through for the Pandorica episodes, Matt bottled out of asking her. Alex was too happy, he told himself, she must have a boyfriend. He got Karen to do his dirty work, getting her to root about for some gossip and find out whether it had been a man that had given her the brightest smile. It wasn’t, she had simply been in a good mood that day, but it didn’t make it any easier for Matt to ask her out. His mind was whirring with all of the different possible ways that he could do it, wondering if Alex would like something simple or elaborate. Finally, a few days into filming, the perfect opportunity landed in his lap.

“Ahhhh.” Alex sighed, sitting herself down in the seat next to Matt in the middle of the museum they were filming in. “I can’t wait for tonight darling.”

“Special plans Kingston?” He enquired.

“Oh yes, Salome is sleeping round her friends house tonight, so I have got a rare child free evening! I’m not doing anything special though, haven’t got anyone to do anything with, but even just having a nice, hot bubble bath without having to listen to Salome blaring her music out or asking for more food will be blissful. Don’t get me wrong, I love my daughter to bits, but sometimes you can’t beat a peaceful night.”

“I get what you mean Alex.” He said, contemplating his options. “So, Salome is out, and you don't have any plans, and no one to do anything with?” Matt pressed on.

“Why? Have you got any suggestions darling?”

“Well, there’s this restaurant that’s just opened up in Mermaid Quays, nothing too fancy, Italian food I think, but I’ve heard a few people here talking about it, it’s meant to be very nice. I was wondering whether you would like to accompany me… as my… my… As my date.” Matt finally managed to say.

Alex blushed slightly at the implication of Matt’s words. “As in, you are asking me out on a date? Like a romantic date?”

“That was the idea, yes. I mean, you don’t have to, we don’t have to go, or we could, but just as friends, if that’s what you-”

“I’d love to honey.” Alex cut him off, placing a finger on his lips. “Let me know when and where.”

4 hours later, and Matt had his hand raised ready to knock on the door of Alex’s flat, a bunch of red and pink flowers in his other hand. His palms were sweaty, and his stomach felt like it was doing flips inside him, since when was a first date so terrifying? He knew why it was though, it was because he cared this time. If things went wrong, Matt would lose a close friend, and filming would be incredibly awkward. If things went well however, then he had a feeling that this could be it. Alex could be the one. He swallowed down the knot forming in his throat, and knocked on the door, waiting patiently until Alex answered. Her hair had been tied up, showing off her neck and shoulders, left bare with the off the shoulder black dress she wore, clinging to her curves until it flared out at her hips, complete with red high heels and lipstick, reminiscent of her scenes as River Song they had filmed shortly after they met.

“You look….” Matt trailed off. Gorgeous? Stunning? Sexy? Beautiful? All applicable, but was it too soon to say something like that? He wondered, was lovely, or really nice enough? In the end, it decided to go for it. “Beautiful, you look really beautiful Alex, I brought these for you.” He said, handing over the flowers, and kissing her cheek.

“You are looking rather dapper yourself, and thank you for the flowers. Let me just put them in a vase and we can make a move, ok?”

The drive down into Cardiff Bay was quiet, but not awkward. He placed his hand on the small of her back, guiding her inside the restaurant and letting the waiter lead them to a table for two in the corner, over looking the water. 

They spent the next hour and a half laughing and joking together, regaling each other with stories from different shows they had worked on, their families and friends, and anything else that came to mind. Not once did the conversation slow down or stop, and neither could remember the last time they had had such a good time.

After they left the restaurant, Matt took his suit jacket off, and placed it around Alex’s shoulders, keeping his arm around her as they walked towards the water, enjoying the beauty and peace and quiet of Cardiff Bay in the evening. They didn’t usually get the chance to come out into the bay, too fearful of being besieged by fans. Silently, they walked back towards the car, stopping in front of the Millennium Centre to admire how it looked at night, all lit up, with the water tower running softly behind them.

“I’ve had an amazing time tonight Matt, thank you.” Alex whispered, now properly wearing Matt’s jacket so she could put her arms around his neck. “I mean it.” Slowly, Alex leant forward, kissing Matt’s cheek as she could feel him smile next to her.

“Same, maybe we could do it again sometime?” He asked hopefully. Matt snaked his arms around Alex’s waist, underneath his jacket, feeling the warmth her body brought against the cold, Welsh, January air.

“I’d love that.”

Their eyes locked as Alex answered, both smiling shyly as they agreed to go on a second date. Matt moved his head, ever so slightly, then surged forward, kissing Alex for the first time. He pulled her closer as he tongued traced the seam of her lips, smiling into the kiss when he felt Alex twin her tongue with his, her fingers twisting locks of hair at the nape of his neck. Eventually, Matt pressed a last, lingering, chaste kiss to her lips before they broke apart, both blushing in the low light. He couldn’t miss the way Alex shivered as he took her hands, and as much as he would like to think he had caused it, Matt was fairly confident in saying it was the cold weather.

“Come on, let’s get you home in the warm.” He said, wrapping an arm around her.

Matt left Alex at her door shortly after, walking away after a kiss on the cheek and a promise to arrange another date in the coming days. Neither of them could stop smiling for the rest of the night.


	3. Third Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’ve er…. Would you like to come in for a cup of tea or coffee?” He asked, looking up at Alex expectantly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I promised on Instagram (If you don't follow me already - why not? I've got a fan account now, check out @yowzahmattexislife), I said if I got to 200 followers, then I would post the third chapter, so here we go!
> 
> Starts in 2040, then back to 2010 for the all important third date, then back to 2040 after!
> 
> Let me know if you like it!!

**22nd January 2040**

**“Oh my god! That’s so romantic!” Rose whispered, holding on to her boyfriends arm. “Nicer than the first date we had!”**

**“Hey! What’s wrong with the cinema and drive through McDonalds? You didn’t complain at the time anyway!” James argued.**

**“I loved it Jay, don’t worry, but look at them, then they went on more dates and got married, and had Zach and me, and then the twins, and now look. Everything was perfect!”**

**Matt kissed the top of Alex’s head, and squeezed her shoulder as she answered.**

**“It didn’t all just happen in the blink of an eye love. We had lots more dates first! That third one...” Alex said wistfully, remembering old times. “Do you remember what we were like? Neither of us wanted to rush things, but god were we desperate!” She joked.**

30th January 2010

Alex stood in front of her mirror, debating what she should wear on her third date with Matt. Their second date had been simple, a walk around the park on a cold, frosty afternoon. Matt had even persuaded her to have a go on the pedalo’s, laughing so hard they both had stitches in their sides when they had become stranded in the grass in the corner of the lake. Still, he was a gentleman, and at the end of the afternoon, he dropped her off at her door, and left her with a quick kiss to the lips. The third date was different though, the third date had certain… expectations attached to it. All Matt had said was that they would be out all day, and that she should wear comfy shoes.

Was she ready to take that step with Matt? Alex wasn’t sure this was it yet, it was still too early to tell, to early to put a label on it, but she knew it wasn’t just a fling. She felt strongly for Matt, he was a close friend, but a part of her heart was telling her not to jump in at the deep end and sleep with him just yet.

Eventually, she settled on her favourite black boots, a pair of mid blue skinny jeans and a cream chunky knit jumper to keep her warm, finished off with a matching cream hat, gloves and scarf set and her black coat. It worked for her, comfy, warm and it looked nice. She left Salome with Karen for the day, telling them she was heading out for auditions, then drove down the road to Matt’s flat.

He’d taken her to a theme park for their date. Matt kissed her when she had arrived at his flat, then again as they waited for their tickets in line. He held her hand as they walked around, kept an arm around her shoulder, hiding her face in the crook of his neck when she was scared on the ghost train, and joked along with her the whole day. They both laughed, and felt a lot closer together than a couple only on their third date. Matt struggled to tear his eyes away from Alex for most of the day. He tried not to grumble too much when she beat him on the hoopla game, but boasted when he won the on the rifle range, proudly handing over the jumbo sized white teddy wearing a purple bow tie that he had as his prize.

Neither wanted their date to end, but didn’t want to make that first move as they drove back to Matt’s flat, where Alex had left her car. It was early evening, the sun was just starting to set, the night didn’t have to be over just yet.

Alex stood awkwardly at the side of her car, waiting to say goodnight to Matt.

“I’ve er…. Would you like to come in for a cup of tea or coffee?” He asked, looking up at Alex expectantly.

Alex looked up at him with a sad smile. “I’d love to.” She said, her heart breaking at the hopeful look on Matt’s face. “I should really be getting back to pick Salome up though, I’m sure Karen is probably tearing her hair out by now.” 

Matt’s face dropped as he hung his head shamefully. “That’s fine, I mean, it’s only tea, and I can always bring you a cup on set tomorrow.” Matt said, trying to back track on what he had asked. 

“I think, no, I know, we should wait a while too. I really like you Matt, as a friend and as a… more than friend. Let’s take this slowly, build something real, because I know that it could become something incredibly special.” Alex told him, closing her eyes against the rain that had started falling, and at the dejected look on Matt’s face. “Matt, look at me, please?” She hooked a finger under his chin, forcing his head up so she could look him in the eyes. “I really like you, but I don’t want to rush this. Please, don’t be upset with me.”

“I’m not, sorry. You’re right, let’s make this something special.” He placed his hands on Alex’s waist, and kissed her cheek. “I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”

“Matt, darling. Please, don’t be upset. Come on, give me a proper goodbye kiss.” She teased, cupping his face in her hands and pulling him in. They kissed passionately on the side of the road, trying to get each other closer than they were at the rain fell down on top of them, flattening their hair and leaving small drops of water on their eyelashes as they parted. “Thank you for today darling, it’s been lovely. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow. Text me when you get home, let me know you’re safe.” Matt warned her. They left each other with smiles on their faces.

By the time he received her text, telling him she was home with Salome safely and that she had had a lovely day, his disappointment about not taking their relationship further was long forgotten.

He met her on set early the next day with a kiss on the cheek (wanting to greet her more passionately, but not wanting everyone to know about their fledging relationship just yet) and a cup of tea as promised. From the way he looked at her as she walked in, Alex knew she had nothing to worry about, her relationship with Matt was safe. They were going to be amazing.

**22nd January 2040**

**“The teddy in my bedroom? With the bow tie? That’s the teddy you won on your date? That’s so sweet!” Rose exclaimed.**

**“I love that she made you wait Dad!” Zach added, rubbing his hand over his fiancee’s bump lovingly, feeling his son kicking away happily. He was due in only a couple of weeks now. “Do you think in 30 years time we will be sitting in our house telling our kids the story of how we met Lucy?”**

**“I hope so. My parents split up when I was a kid, my Dad died a few years later, and Mum had never remarried. It’s lovely to see you two still together, and still so happy and in love, sets a really positive example for us to follow, or at least it will when I finally drag this one down the aisle. I’m sure he knocked me up just so he could put it off a bit longer. Next summer I’m telling you, we are getting married. Baby will be old enough by then to take part, probably even able to totter down the aisle on his own. No more wriggling out of it this time.” She teased, much to everyone amusement. They’d put the wedding off twice already, once because Zach had started a new job which meant moving house and they then couldn’t afford it, and then again when they realised Lucy was pregnant.**

**Matt kept his fingers linked with Alex’s, watching their children and grandchildren interacting. He was glad they had waited, to steal River’s lines from Doctor Who, if he could go back in time, he wouldn’t change a single line ‘not one line’, because all of it, even the hardest of times, had led him to be here right now, in this situation.**

**“I know this is a weird thing to ask, but we all seem to be pretty open at the minute, how long did you make him wait Mum?” Salome asked. “I want to bring this lot up to do the same, to wait until they are older.”**

**“Sal, I had barely turned 18 when you were born, so it’s obvious I didn’t wait! But with your dad, we’d been dating for nearly two months before we slept together, not long before you found out we were dating. It was my 29th birthday actually.” Alex told her daughter.**


	4. Alex's birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She woke up on her birthday to many texts on her phone, but none of them made her smile quite a brightly as the one from Matt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 4, all the usual stuff here really....
> 
> And now though, we might get a bit of birthday smut!

11th March 2010

Happy birthday beautiful! Make sure Salome spoils you rotten today, and I will see you this evening – Matt x

She woke up on her birthday to many texts on her phone, but none of them made her smile quite a brightly as the one from Matt. It didn’t say much, but the fact it was sent at 12.01am made her chuckle, he had obviously stayed up until it was ‘officially’ her birthday, so he could be the first person to wish her many happy returns.

Salome was an angel all day, tidying up after herself around the house, making Alex endless cups of tea and helping to cook the dinner. Alex just spent the day wishing Matt could have spent more time with her though, privately. Luckily, she was only needed on set for a few hours before she managed to escape, arms full of presents and cards from her co-workers. Matt even sneaked in a cheeky birthday kiss in her trailer, out of Salome’s sight, promising that he would call by their flat later that evening once the young girl was asleep to give Alex her present, that was safely tucked away in his trailer. Alex thanked her lucky stars that Salome hadn’t asked why Matt hadn’t given her a birthday card when she had been looking through all of them once she had come home.

By the time 9pm came around, Alex couldn’t wait to see Matt, and not just because he had been teasing her all day about what her present was. She was finally feeling ready to take the next step with him, it had been 6 weeks since their first date, and hadn’t moved beyond making out. She put on a nice set of emerald green lingerie, a firm favourite of hers that was sexy, but subtle and brought out the green in her eyes magnificently. A little make up, a pair of skinny jeans and a black, boho floaty blouse later and she was ready, waiting for Matt to arrive.

He sent her a text a few minutes later, telling her he was outside, always too worried about knocking in case he woke Salome up. 

“Happy birthday… again!” He said as soon as she opened the door, revealing a bouquet of pink and purple roses from behind his back, and a gift bag hanging off of his wrist.

“Thank you honey! They are beautiful!” Alex exclaimed, taking the flowers off of him and guiding him into the living room.

Once they had settled down, Matt proudly handed over the pretty pink, floral gift bag, watching eagerly as she pulled out her presents one by one. There was a box of chocolates, a new bottle of her favourite perfume that she remembered mentioning to the make up girls on set the week before about how she was getting low on it, a fancy pen and notebook, after she had told him she liked writing, and finally, she pulled out a small, flat, square shaped box, wrapped exquisitely. Already, Alex knew this was her main present from him, it didn’t take Sherlock Holmes to work out that he hadn’t wrapped this one, but had the rest of them. The silver wrapping paper came apart easily in her hands, and she looked up at Matt expectantly as she opened the lid of the box.

Inside, was a beautiful necklace. The thin silver chain held a pale blue, tear drop shaped gem, with a single diamond at the top of it. She gasped quietly as she looked down at the necklace in front of her, holding it in hands slightly shaking.

“It’s gorgeous, honey.” She said breathily.

“Not as gorgeous as you.” Matt said, not taking his eyes off of Alex. When she looked up at him, finally tearing her gaze away from the necklace, she saw Matt was looking at her with such sincerity, and for the first time in many years, Alex believed someone when they told her how beautiful she was. She took the chain out of the box, setting the box down on the coffee table, and placed the chain in Matt’s hands, turning around slightly, prompting him to help her put it on.

As Alex swept her masses of curls up from her neck, it felt so intimate to have Matt’s arms so near her, and after he fastened the clasp, and Alex brought her hand to the pendant resting just below her clavicle, she felt Matt press a brief kiss to the side of her neck, followed quickly after by another, and then by an open mouthed kiss, sucking on her skin slightly. Alex couldn’t take it any more, she turned around in Matt’s arms that had worked their way around her waist, letting her hair fall around her face like a halo. Without any warning, she pushed Matt back onto the sofa, almost getting lost amongst the cushions, and settled herself on top of him, cupping his face in her hands before kissing him soundly.

“Thank you Matt, I love it.” She mumbled into his mouth, fisting her hands in his hair while rocking her hips subtly over his, revelling in the feel of him hardening beneath her. 

Their hands roamed over each other’s bodies, with Alex keeping a hand in Matt’s hair, tugging on his locks occasionally, with her other hand straying under his t-shirt to stroke his skin. Matt’s hands wormed their way between them, using one to cup a breast over her bra, while his other gripped tightly on Alex’s hip, guiding their movements on top of him.

“Alex...” He struggled to say when it became clear that Alex wasn’t going to stop any time soon. “Are you sure you want to?”

Alex answered Matt in the clearest way she could think of. She stood up from the sofa, pulling her top off over her head and tossing it across the room before taking Matt’s hand in hers, leading him down the hallway to her bedroom.

They settled beside each other on the bed, slowly pulling Matt’s t-shirt off before they resumed kissing. Alex moaned softly into Matt’s mouth as he caressed her breasts, before all of their hands were working on the fastenings of the others jeans, kicking them excitedly off of their legs.

“Fuck.” Matt swore as he took in the sight of Alex in her underwear, relaxing against the pillows with her legs spread invitingly, her fingers stroking across her own toned stomach, inching their way lower, teasing him to join her.

He threw himself onto the bed, settling quickly between Alex’s thighs, his hand buried deep in her knickers, running along her folds, feeling how wet she was before pushing two long fingers inside her. His mouth was on her breasts, getting Alex to take her bra off so he could kiss, suck and lick his way around the firm globes, teasing her nipples temptingly with his teeth. As Alex’s hips bucked violently, tightening around the fingers he had pumping in and out, her moans grew louder until Matt muffled them with a kiss.

“Sssh! Don’t wake Salome.” He whispered, unaware of how deeply the young girl slept.

He reluctantly pulled his fingers out as Alex was on the brink of coming, smirking at the groan of frustration she let out as he did so, but cheered her up by hooking a finger into her knickers on each side of her hips, pulling them down inch by inch. By the time he had discarded them on the floor, Alex had knelt up, sneaking her hand into Matt’s boxers, holding his length in her hand, pumping him slowly, spreading the pre-cum with her thumb.

“Please… Stop teasing me sweetheart.” Matt said, pulling Alex’s hand from his boxers, and pushing them down his legs. “Lay down for me beautiful.”

Alex lowered herself onto the plush bedding, biting her lower lip as her eyes raked over Matt’s body, taking in every inch of his lithe, toned body, his erection standing tall and proud in front of him, just the right size for her too.

Matt placed his hands either side of Alex’s head, his hips between her thighs, his erection pressing against her core. 

“Have you got a condom?” He asked, pulling his hips back slowly. He watched with hungry eyes as Alex leant across, pulling the small foil packet from her bedside drawer, tearing it open with her teeth and passing it over to Matt, who deftly rolled it on, then resettled himself between her legs.

Taking himself in hand, Matt leant down and kissed Alex, his weight balancing on one arm beside her as he lined himself up and pushed in slowly, swallowing the cry Alex made. After couple of slow thrusts of his hips and Matt was buried to the hilt in Alex, and she felt… bloody fantastic.

She hooked her ankles around his thighs, as Matt pressed open mouthed kisses to her neck. His hips moved slowly back and forth, grinding his pelvis against her clit, and caressing a breast in his large hands. He could tell when he hit that spot inside her, her mouth opened in a breathless gasp, her fingers tightening their grip on his biceps, leaving little nail shaped dents in his skin.

Alex moaned, loud and deep as Matt suckled on her neck, leaving red marks down her throat that he hoped would clear up quickly. His hips moved quicker, pushing into Alex deeper, balancing his weight on his elbows so he could look down at her. With her lips swollen and red from his kisses, and the look of pure bliss across her face, Alex looked more beautiful than he had ever seen her before. Her breasts bounced in time with his thrusts until Matt sat up, pulling Alex up too so she could sit astride him, his head at the foot of the bed. With Matt’s hands on her hips, guiding her movements, she leant on his chest, letting Matt mouth at her breasts while she rolled her hips quicker and quicker over his until her body tensed, the tension building until she broke, coming with a quiet cry of his name. The feel of Alex’s walls clamping and fluttering around his cock, and the beautiful look on her face, was enough to tip Matt over the edge. His hips stuttered and his cock pulsed, until finally they caught their breaths.

Alex collapsed against Matt's chest, exhaustion and euphoria coursing through her. She felt him press gentle kisses to the top of her head before they both started giggling, suddenly feeling awkward.

"That was amazing sweetheart." Matt mumbled, gently rolling out from underneath Alex, his softened length slipping out of her with both of them whinging at the loss. 

She curled herself around him, hooking her leg over his thigh and draping her arm across his stomach. 

"Mmm. Amazing." Alex sighed, leaning up to kiss Matt softly on the lips. Both of them started feeling sleepy, Alex's eyes slowly drooping.

"I should go. Don't want Salome finding us like this." Matt stated, pulling a blanket over Alex before moving to get up and dressed himself.

"Don't. Not yet. Stay for 10 minutes. I want a cuddle." 

Matt chuckled at the sight of his sleepy girlfriend, almost begging him to stay and hold her. It was her birthday though, so he climbed under the blanket wearing only his boxers. Who was he to deny the birthday girl her wish?

With Matt's arms safely around her, Alex fell asleep in minutes. Matt watched her, the slight curl at the corner of her lips, the way her hair fell over her eyes, the gentle rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. His fingers walked lightly across her chest, touching the pendant he had given her not even an hour before. It suited her. She looked beautiful as she slept. He could see himself spending the rest of his life with her, it hadn't been long, but he was pretty sure already that he loved her.

"Goodnight beautiful. Happy birthday." He whispered 15 minutes later. He eased his arms out from under her, collecting his clothes in the dark and sneaking out of her bedroom, dressing quickly and quietly in the bathroom, before sprawling a note to Alex, which he left by her bedside table, leaving her with a final kiss on forehead.

She woke up the next morning, deliciously achy and eager for more. Her hand stretched out behind her, fumbling around to find Matt, but was met with nothing but empty space and cold sheets. Her eyes slowly blinked open, acknowledging that Matt had left. She had told him to go, she knew that, but part of her had hoped to wake up in his arms and to get to admonish him for falling asleep, but not meaning a word of it. She pulled herself out of bed, feeling slightly dejected and a little used, throwing on a nightie and her dressing gown as she turned around, about to leave the room when she saw a note propped up against her alarm clock.

The note he had left cheered her up though, saying simply, Good morning beautiful, happy birthday boxing day, thank you for a lovely evening, definitely need to do it again some time. All my love, Matt xxx.

She hadn’t even realised that her hand had come up to touch the necklace, twisting the pendant around on the chain.

“Mummy!” Salome screeched, running into her mothers bedroom and hugging her close. “That’s a very pretty necklace.” She added, noticing the chain around her mother’s neck. “Was it a birthday present?” Salome wasn’t stupid, the silly grin on Alex’s face told her that it had been. “Who’s it from?”

“It was from Matt, darling.” Alex answered. “Now come on, let’s get you some breakfast.”

All day she couldn’t stop touching her new necklace, smiling like a lovesick teenager every time someone commented on it. She had fallen, and she was in it deep.


	5. Salome's birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You found out about them on your birthday? Please, for your own sake, don’t tell me you walked in on them doing the nasty? That’s a sight no child wants!” Zach piped up, pulling his attention away from his baby kicking back to his sister and parents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, and Salome is about to find out that her Mum has a new boyfriend!
> 
> Let me know as usual!!

**22nd January 2040**

**Matt and Alex looked at each other, and linked their hands behind Mathias’s back, their six year old grandson who had worked his way between them while they told their story, looking so much like his mother Salome. He was too busy playing on his video game to pay the adult’s any attention though. They smiled at the memories of that night as they came flooding back to them, and how they both knew that night how they felt about each other, neither of them however could ever have predicted the euphoric highs and devastating lows that would come in their relationship, spanning 30 years and still going strong. They had learnt the hard way that to get through the hard times they had to stick together, be each others support.**

**“That was a good night.” Matt said quietly to Alex, squeezing her hand lightly.**

**“One of the best darling, and I really did love the necklace, still do.” She answered, picturing the necklace hanging in her jewellery box on her dressing table in their bedroom. It still brought back special memories.**

**“So, it really wasn’t long before I found out about you two, was it? Because I found out on my birthday, two odd weeks later?” Salome asked, passing her daughter Lizzie her mobile phone to play on.**

**“You found out about them on your birthday? Please, for your own sake, don’t tell me you walked in on them doing the nasty? That’s a sight no child wants!” Zach piped up, pulling his attention away from his baby kicking back to his sister and parents.**

**“No! Thank god, I think I would have needed to bleach my brain if I’d seen that! No offence guys.” She replied, gesturing to her parents. “But it was close in a way, certainly wasn’t the birthday present I was expecting.”**

28th March 2010

Matt collapsed onto the bed in the very early hours, next to a naked and sweaty Alex. When she had invited him over at 9pm, Matt hadn’t expected to be pulled into Alex’s bedroom straight away, not that he was complaining. The fact that he was then unceremoniously shoved onto the floor with a pair of scissors, some tape and wrapping paper while Alex rambled on about a bag of presents behind him, did surprise him though. He’d planned on getting lucky, not spending the night wrapping presents for a pre-teen girl. Between them though, they soon got the presents wrapped, and Matt lured Alex into bed with him in the early hours, kissing her thoroughly before making love to her.

“You know, if we are going to keep doing that, we are going to have to do it round mine.” He said, referring to how squeaky Alex’s bed was as they moved together.

“Can’t.” She mumbled sleepily, he’d learnt quickly that Alex always got tired after having sex. “Daughter.”

“We’ll have to buy you a new bed then.”

“I look forward to breaking it in.” She replied quietly, curling up into Matt’s side. “Just 10 minutes.”

10 minutes however, soon turned into 20, and before they knew it, Matt was asleep as well, holding Alex safely in his arms. It always felt right when he was holding her, like that was the whole meaning of him having arms in the first place. They were never too long, or too awkward, or too clumsy when Alex was around.

Salome woke early in the morning, it was her birthday! 11 today, only two more years until she was finally a teenager. She bounded out of bed, heading straight for her mum’s bedroom to wake her up, but stopped when she tried the door quietly. It was locked. Her mum never locked her bedroom door. She waited patiently by the door, wondering whether to knock or not, when she heard her mum giggling from inside, and then her moaning that her guest ‘had to go before Salome woke up’, that they ‘didn’t have time for it’ and that Salome ‘can’t see us like this’.

Her mum had a man round, Salome thought, did she have a boyfriend and not tell her? Her mum was always going on about how they shouldn’t have secrets, and that they should tell each other everything because they were best friends, so why hadn’t her mum told her? Unless… He wasn’t her boyfriend? Salome had heard people talking about how sometimes adults took someone home for a night to have fun, but then didn’t see them again, but she knew you shouldn’t do that.

She decided instead, to wait in the living room. Salome poured herself a glass of milk, grabbed the tin of biscuits from the kitchen counter, and headed into the front room to watch TV until her mum came out with her mystery companion. Salome couldn’t stop herself from thinking about who was in there with her mum, how happy Alex had sounded as she had giggled, could this man be her stepdad one day?

“Ssshh! Don’t wake her up! It’s too early.” Alex moaned, giggling along with her friend as they made their way down the hallway, straight into the living room to find Salome dunking cookies into her milk. “Salome! You’re awake! Happy birthday darling!” Alex said, with a false happiness, glaring at someone just around the corner from Salome, telling them to stay hidden. “What are you doing awake so early?”

“I couldn’t sleep. Who’s hiding around the corner?” 

Salome saw the way her mum’s shoulders sagged at getting caught out, and the way she looked up at her friend, telling them it was ok to stop hiding.

“Happy birthday Sal!” Matt shouted, jumping out of his hiding spot, wearing the same clothes he had worn the night before, but Salome didn’t know that. “I made sure I got here extra, extra early so I could be the first to say happy birthday to my favourite poppet, after your mum of course.”

She looked between the two adults in front of her quizzically, trying to deduce them as best she could. They were both dressed normally, her mums hair seemed even madder than usual, but that was just bed hair, they were both smiling, but of course they would be, it was her birthday, and that meant cake later, she couldn’t spot anything unusual.

“Why was your bedroom door locked mummy?”

“Because...” Alex trailed off.

“We were wrapping your presents numpty!” Matt answered, jumping in to save Alex. “Couldn’t have you walking in and seeing your presents before we had wrapped them!”

Matt looked up and saw Alex mouth a silent ‘thank you’ to him before they both turned to look at Salome, smiling up at them, happily buying the lie. 

“Ok. Can I open my presents now?”

A few hours later, Salome was busying playing on the phone Alex had brought her for her birthday, finding pictures on there that she could copy with the art set and sketchbook that Matt had brought her.

She kept herself occupied, no longer thinking about how the fact that Matt had been in her mum’s bedroom at 7am on a Saturday, and concentrated on her drawing, having decided instead to sketch the bunch of roses that had appeared overnight in their living room. 

Matt would make a good stepdad, Salome thought, stopping her colouring for a moment, thinking about how to get the shading right. He was funny, he loved her, was always happy to play, or help her with her homework. Not only that, but he seemed very paternal to her, telling Salome when she was being a bit too lippy, or if she needed to come back and tidy up the mess that she had left, but he didn’t treat her like a little kid, never belittling her, not treating her like an adult either. Matt treated her with respect. It was blatantly obvious as well that Matt fancied her mum, and that her mum fancied him. 

Salome couldn’t understand that, though Alex always reminded her that she would understand soon enough. Boys were disgusting, they pulled your hair, farted loudly in class and found it funny, and only cared about running around playing football. The thought of kissing a boy was horrible! But adults seemed to like it, she knew that one day she too would grow up and fall in love, get married and have children of her own. Salome just wished that her mum could do that too. She didn’t know the details, but she knew that her mum hadn’t meant to fall pregnant with Salome when she did, because she was only 17 at the time, and her dad didn’t want to know about her. It didn’t upset Salome, she had never met him and didn’t want to, she had her mum, and her mum was the best mum ever. It would be nice to have a dad though, and she wanted her mum to be happy. Her mum wanted to be in love, she went out on dates all the time when they were back in America, but none of them ever ended well. Matt would be perfect though, she knew it. Maybe Salome would have to play matchmaker?

It took her a little while longer, but finally, Salome had finished her picture. It wasn’t the best she had ever done, but it was one of the better ones. She had done it quickly and the roses were awkward the get right, she proudly tore the paper from the sketchbook neatly, and held it tight in her hands as she went into the kitchen to show her mum and Matt her drawing.

As she got closer to the kitchen, where she knew her mum and Matt were making her birthday cake, she heard laughter from both of them. Salome put her hand on the kitchen door knob, and slowly opened it. She gasped loudly, dropping her picture to the floor as she saw Alex sitting on the counter with Matt between her legs, kissing him soundly. Her hands were in his hair, tugging lightly as Matt held Alex close to him, his arms around her back.

“Oh my god!” Salome shrieked, making Matt and Alex spring apart.

“Salome! It isn’t what it looks like!” Matt told her quickly, trying to tame his hair and brush the flour from his t-shirt, the same flour that also covered Alex’s blouse and face.

“I knew it!” She continued, running up to the pair of them, throwing her arms around them. “Are you in love? Are you going to get married?”

Alex placed her hand gently on her daughters head, grateful she hadn’t freaked out at catching the pair of them.

“It’s a little early to say all of that sweetheart, but Matt makes me very happy. Are you happy with that?” 

“I am.” Salome happily told them, before pulling back and looking at Matt very seriously. “But, if you ever, EVER, make my mummy sad, I will be very cross with you Matty, because that would make me sad too, and then I will stop being your friend, and I will hurt you. Do you understand?” She warned him gravely.

Matt looked at Alex worriedly, but relaxed at the sight of the slight smile on Alex’s lips. He brought his fingers to his temple, and saluted Salome.

“Scouts honour Miss Kingston, I will never make either you or your mummy sad. You are both too important to me to ever do that. Have you finished your drawing? Can we have a look?”

They both exclaimed over how good Salome’s drawing was, declaring that she should be an artist when she grew up. Together, making a lot more mess, they finished baking Salome’s cake, and decided to go out for lunch whilst it cooled down before they decorated it in the afternoon.

Matt revelled in being able to be close to Alex in the way he wanted to be, and loved getting to know Salome better as well. He knew that afternoon, spent holding Alex’s hand, that all he would ever need to be happy was the two of them, his very own Kingston girls.

“Where are we going?” Salome had asked in the car on the way back to their flat.

“Just stopping at my place quickly.” Matt answered quickly as they pulled up. 10 minutes, and a quick heart to heart with Alex about what was happening with Matt later, he was back in the car, carrying a bag over his shoulder.

“What’s in the bag Matty?” 

“Some clothes. I thought you might like it if I spent the night with you two as well.”

They spent the evening eating their cake, laughing and joking together happily. When Matt got to say goodnight to Salome properly, then stay with Alex overnight, waking up with her in his arms leisurely in the morning, without having to worry about sneaking out so Salome didn’t find them, Matt knew he was happier than he had ever been in his life.


	6. I love you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “But, why didn’t you say it earlier?” Rose asked, looking between her parents, but snuggling up to her boyfriend. “It would hurt.” Alex and Matt answered at the same time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Didn't realise it had been so long since I updated.... so here you go!!!!!

**22nd January 2040**

**“You were lucky Sal! If you’d left going to the kitchen much longer, god knows what you would have seen!” Zach said laughingly. “You really knew after just over two months that you wanted to marry her?”**

**“Well… I hadn’t thought about proposing, but I definitely knew that I loved her, not that either of us had actually said it. I do though, just in case you had forgotten. I love you more than anything else.” Matt told Alex, leaning over Mathias’s head to kiss Alex lightly. “I will always love you, through anything, you know that.”**

**“I love you too honey, and I knew then too. In fact, I knew the day after my birthday that I loved you, when Salome asked me who had brought me the necklace. I knew then that I loved you.”**

**“But, why didn’t you say it earlier?” Rose asked, looking between her parents, but snuggling up to her boyfriend.**

**“It would hurt.” Alex and Matt answered at the same time.**

**“How would it hurt?” Rose asked, confused at their answer.**

**“Because I had to fly back to America a week later.” Alex said quietly.**

2nd April 2010

Their suitcases stood by the door, ready to be taken down to the taxi when Alex called for it. They didn’t need to leave for another few hours yet though, they wouldn’t leave for Heathrow until Matt had finished filming for the day so he could come and say goodbye.

It had been a tearful morning, Alex tried her best not to cry as he made love to her as the sun rose, knowing that the next time she lay in bed, it would be alone, 5,000 miles from the man she loved, and being unlikely to see him again for any decent length of time for at least six months until she returned to Cardiff for filming her next episodes of Doctor Who with him.

They had breaks in between filming, but it wouldn’t be easy. There was Skype, phone calls, texting, could even try good old fashioned love letters, but she worried that their relationship, still so new and fresh, wouldn’t be able to cope with the strain of long distance. They had barely got past the sleeping together stage, how would they cope with an 8 hour time difference and technology.

A knock at her door startled Alex from her maudlin mood. She slowly made her way over to the door so she could open it, smiling brightly when she saw Matt the oher side.

“Hello beautiful! Steven let me go early so we could spend a last bit of time together.” He said, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close for a kiss. Alex draped her arms across his shoulders, savouring the taste of Matt on her tongue that she would miss so much once she flew home. “I’m going to miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too honey.” Alex replied, resting her forehead against Matt’s. “We can get through this, can’t we?”

“Of course we can. I was going to tell you later, but I’ve managed to convince them to swap some filming dates about, so I finish in a few weeks now, and then I’ve got three weeks off. I thought, you know, just maybe, I might take a little holiday in LA, don’t suppose you know of anywhere I could stay?” Matt teased.

“I can think of somewhere that would be perfect, it’s close to the beach, good shopping district, has its own pool, lots of space, and comes complete with a girlfriend who will be missing you very much, sound ok?”

“It sounds perfect, don’t call a taxi by the way, I’ll take you two to Heathrow.”

By the time 3pm came round and they finally had to leave, neither Alex nor Salome could contain their tears. The two hour drive to the airport was sombre, no one talking much, refusing to admit that this could be the end. 

They stood in a quiet corner of the departures lounge, Matt had gone as far as he could get without either climbing into Alex’s suitcase or buying his own ticket. He held Salome close, wiping away the young girls tears before kissing her on the top of the head, reminding her that he loved her, and that now she had her own mobile, that they could text each other all the time. When he stood up straight to say goodbye to Alex, his heart broke at the sight of her before him, tears streaming down her face. She buried her face in the crook of his neck as they held each other as close as possible, neither wanting to pull apart and break the moment. When they heard the final call for their flight, they had to break apart.

“Good luck with the airing.” Alex told Matt, his first episode was due to air in just two days. “I know everyone will love it.”

“I’ll call you once it’s finished, and text me when you land, ok? And when you get home. Just… let me know you’re safe, and don’t be strangers. Call me, text me, skype, anything, any time day or night.” Matt told them both, blinking back his own tears. He pulled Alex close for one final searing kiss, tasting their tears on their tongues. When they pulled apart, they rested their foreheads together, one last time.

“I love you, beautiful.” Matt whispered, so quietly no one else could hear, looking Alex in the eyes.

“I love you too, honey.” She replied just as quietly. With one final lingering kiss, Alex started to walk away, holding Salome’s hand as Matt slowly faded from their sight. Once they were settled into their seats, Alex stared out of the window, wondering just where Matt was below her, she had no idea that he was sat in his car, solemnly watching her flight take off and disappear up into the air, taking his two favourite girls with it.

“I love you.” He whispered to himself, just as the place went out of sight. “I love you.”

It was only when Alex had arrived back in LA hours later and finally got round to unpacking, that she found the battered, obviously well loved and well read copy of ‘The Master And Margarita’ by Mikhail Bulgakov. She smiled as she remembered the conversation her and Matt had had a couple of weeks before, laying entwined in bed, determined to know more about each other. He mentioned it was his favourite book, and kept saying he would lend it to Alex so she could read it too, but always forgot to bring it round.

On the inside cover, he had written a short message for her.

_To my beautiful,_

__

_I hope that reading this will fill your hours until I can see you again. I miss you already, and will more each day that passes. I love you, don’t forget that._

__

_Love from Matt xxx_

__

She flicked through the book quickly, deciding to leave it on the coffee table in the living room to read later, when a piece of paper folded up fell from between the pages, landing in her lap.

Curiously, Alex unfolded the paper, delicately picking up the pressed blue rose left between the sheets, and smiling as she found another note.

_Couldn’t resist giving you one last rose before you go. Tardis blue too! Love Matt xxx_

By the time Matt came to visit a month later, his smile brightened even further when he saw the blue rose he had pressed for Alex sitting in a glass frame by the side of her bed, and his favourite book he had given her next to it.


	7. Matt's birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I can’t imagine living in LA anymore, but the best bit was that I came back just before your dad’s birthday.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you follow me on Instagram, you will know that I promised to upload the next chapter once I got to 500 followers, so as promised!
> 
> You will also know why today is a fantastic day!!! I got Alex Kingston's autograph and she thinks my halloween fancy dress was fab!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so happy!!!!!!!!! (There's something I don't say much!!)
> 
> As always, let me know what you think!!!! xxx

**22nd January 2040**

**“By the time I got to the airport, I had to tell her how I felt though. I realised that not telling her would hurt more than telling her and still having to leave.” Matt admitted, looking at Alex shyly out of the corner of his eye. “I had to tell your mother that I loved her before she got on that plane, otherwise I wouldn’t get the chance for months.”**

**“It did hurt. Getting on that plane was so hard, but in a way, it was good. I knew just how much I loved you when we were apart, and it made the reunions, even to this day, that much sweeter.” Alex added.**

**“It’s still up there you know?” Salome told her husband, Mark. “Mum’s kept that rose pressed all those years. In their bedroom, hanging on the wall, there are loads of photo frames, some are photos, of them and all of us, and some of them are pressed flowers. There’s that flower, some from their wedding, when those two and the other two trouble makers were born, when…” She trailed off, her voice growing sad for a second. “Whenever anything significant happened, Mum saved a flower or two. There’s one from my wedding, and there will be ones from yours too.” She added to Rose and Zach.**

**“It’s a nice way to have a keepsake from those times.” Alex said, thinking of all the flowers she had saved over the years. “They mean a lot to me, and luckily, your father has always loved buying me flowers.” She added, smiling at Matt knowingly, knowing he was thinking of the countless bunches of flowers he had brought for her over the years too.**

**“It can’t have been easy, being about for so long.” Rose told them. “I can’t imagine having to spend so much time apart from James.”**

**Matt and Alex looked at each other and shifted closer together now that Mathias had climbed down, running off to play in the garden with his sisters.**

**“It wasn’t, but we managed. We saw each other every few weeks, even if it was only for a couple of days on one continent or the other, but by the time I finally had to return to Cardiff for Doctor Who, I had decided that I was going to move back to the UK. Salome was starting secondary school, so I delayed that for a month until we return at the start of October, I wanted her to be settled somewhere. I was going to be in the UK for most of the next year anyway, because we were filming series 6 of Who, and I was in a lot of the episodes, so it seemed a good time to give up the LA lifestyle and head back to good old Blighty.” Alex told them all. “I can’t imagine living in LA anymore, but the best bit was that I came back just before your dad’s birthday.”**

9th October 2010

Salome had started her secondary school. It had been a hard decision to pick which one, but eventually, Alex decided that one in Cardiff would be best, seeing as Alex would be there for at least most of the following year, and depending on how things went with Matt, possibly longer. Things had been going so well between them, it had been 9 months since they got together, and Alex couldn’t remember a time when she had ever smiled so much. Despite the distance between them for the past few months, they had come through the other side, strong and deeply in love. She knew her dad was eagerly awaiting the chance to take Matt out for a drink or to a football match, to ‘get to know him better’, though she was convinced that her dad thought Matt would soon be asking for his permission to ask for Alex’s hand in marriage. It was too soon to think about that though, she had Salome to think of first and foremost. Salome had to come first.

There was only a couple of weeks until Matt’s birthday, and Alex wanted to get him something special, something that would mean as much to him, as the necklace he had given her for her birthday had meant her. She didn’t wear it everyday, but whenever she had found herself missing Matt while they had been apart, she put it on, and it always lifted her mood.

Her and Salome had searched all over Cardiff, hunting high and low for a suitable present, but nothing seemed to fit the bill. Alex started to wonder whether she could get away with sending Salome off for a sleepover and just buying herself some sexy lingerie as a birthday present for Matt, but didn’t want to resort to that. She wanted to give him something that would make him smile every time he looked at it.

26th October 2010

There was only two days left until Matt’s birthday now, and Alex was really starting to think she would just buy him a few little presents to open, and then just give him a really good night in bed, give him a blow job, let him fuck her in what ever position he wanted, a new bra and skimpy knickers and he would be happy as larry, and she wouldn’t be complaining either.

As she strolled through the shopping centre in Cardiff, several shops caught her eye, looking in the windows at each of them, but no presents for Matt jumped out at her. There’s a lingerie shop at the end of this floor, she thought, probably just buy something in there. As she made her way across that level, Alex almost walked straight past the small jewellers, tucked back slightly from the other shops. Her foot hovered in the air slightly as she stopped mid-step, halting on the spot as she looked into the window. Among the sea of watches in the window, there was one on the back row that Alex couldn’t tear her eyes from. With a large, navy blue dial, silver hands and numerals, and matching navy leather straps, it was simple, classic and she knew would look perfect on Matt’s wrist. It made Alex laugh that it was Tardis blue, Matt’s favourite colour, and was quickly becoming hers as well.

The shop was small inside, run by a little old man who told Alex all about the watch, but none of what he said matter to her, she knew that was the one. She only had two questions to ask the man, can you engrave it, and when would it be ready?

If it had been ok to kiss the man on the cheek when he said yes and it could be ready in a couple of hours, then Alex would have. She asked him to keep the watch to one side while she got herself a coffee in the cafe opposite, and thought about what message she would like to be engraved on the back. She wanted something that would remind Matt just how special he was to her, how much she loved it, but didn’t want it to say too much, it had only been a few months since they had gotten together after all.

After scrolling through the internet on her phone for a few minutes, Alex finally settled on an inscription, and headed back to the jewellers. While he worked on the watch, Alex decided that she would go to the lingerie store, and brought herself a new set of black lace undies that she knew Matt would appreciate, then she killed the rest of the time by buying his birthday card and wrapping paper, as well as pre ordering a helium balloon that she knew he would appreciate.

It felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders once she had the engraved watch in her bag. All that was left to do was pick up the helium balloon and his birthday cake while he was at work on his birthday, then sneak into his flat with Salome before he came home to get the balloons and banners hung.

28th October 2010

Although Alex had started filming, she had managed to swing it with Steven that she could finish before Matt on his birthday, without him knowing about it. Luckily for her, her and Matt had always been Steven’s favourites, and he would do anything to help either of them, especially when it came to their relationship. He had practically been running around the corridors screaming when he found out they were dating.

Placing her bags on the floor outside Matt’s flat, Alex rummaged around in her handbag, trying to find her keys. When she had moved back over, Matt had given her the spare key to his flat, as she had given him one of hers. There was no point knocking constantly, waiting for the other to answer, and now that everyone knew about their relationship, they didn’t have to hide. Even the fans had come out in full support of them after photos of them embracing on the beach in LA were published over the summer.

Balloons were scattered across the flat, the cake left on the kitchen counter as Alex looked through the cupboards, trying to find the pile of takeaway leaflets she knew he was hiding.

By the time Matt practically crawled in at 6pm, shattered from a long, exhausting day filming, Alex and Salome were waiting to surprise him on the sofa. Salome flew across the room to wrap her arms around Matt’s waist, wishing him a happy birthday, followed seconds later by Alex, who kissed him with a restrained passion, whispering quietly in his ear that once Salome had gone to sleep in his spare room then he could have another present.

The presents of dvd’s, books, t-shirts and a couple of vinyl records were loved by Matt, especially the sketch of the three of them that Salome had done for him and framed. Finally, Matt came to the last present, pulling at the wrapping paper, until he could open the box inside. In his hands, sat a beautiful blue watch, with a leather strap, his favourite colour.

“I love it, sweetheart. Thank you.” Matt said, leaning across to give Alex a kiss, smiling when he pulled back and saw the scowl on Salome’s face.

“Turn it over.” She whispered. 

_Remember, I’m with you every step of the way, you’re here in my heart each and every day. A x_

His eyes water slightly at the sentiment engraved on the back of the watch, a constant reminder that he would always have Alex with him, to turn to for love and comfort in good times and bad.

“It’s perfect, thank you Alex. I love you.”

“Love you too. Come on, put it on, and then we can order dinner.” She replied.

It fitted perfectly, and looked great on him. By the time they finally got Salome to bed, they weren’t far behind her, with Matt barely able to keep his eyes open. He watched eagerly as Alex pulled her dress up and over her head, tossing it carelessly to the ground. At the sight of Alex standing there in the low light of his bedroom, wearing only her black underwear, Matt perked up, finding a new lease of energy. From where he had been tucked under the covers, Matt jumped up, pulling Alex down onto the bed and pined her underneath him. His birthday certainly wasn’t over yet…


	8. First home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It worked too, because it was buying the house that really kick started everything. That was the year that everything changed.” Matt added.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Completely forgot to update this! Ooops!!
> 
> To make up for it, here's a nice long chapter, and things are getting serious between Matt and Alex!! How exciting!!

**2nd January 2040**

**Matt looked down at the watch, now a bit worn and battered after nearly 30 years of almost daily use. It still made him smile and his heart skip a beat to look at it and be reminded of he inscription on the back, it had reminded him through the hard times, the arguments and sadness, that deep down, Alex loved him more than anyone else, aside from her children.**

**“How do you two do it? 30 years, and you still act like newlyweds. It’s almost sickly sweet how in love you two are.” James told the room, gesturing to Matt and Alex. “I hope we can be like that one day babe.”**

**“Me too.” Rose added quietly. When she had grown up, she had always looked at her parents as her inspiration for what she wanted in a relationship. She had always wanted someone who looked at her like her father looked at her mother. From when she was all dressed up, looking beautiful for a night out, to when she had been exercising, or sick, or crying, he still looked at her like she was the most precious gem on earth. She remembered clearly, when her mum was days away from giving birth to the twins, hot, sweaty, her face and ankles swollen, grumpy as anything, her father still thought she was perfect, and she had never understood that at the time. It was the same with how Mark looked at Salome, and how Zach looked at Lucy. She knew that James looked at her in the same way, she had found her man, just like her mum and sister. She wanted to be sitting at home, one day in two or three decades and be sitting next to James, telling their own children the story of their relationship.**

**“So, you both lived in Cardiff?” She asked them.**

**“Yes, for the first year, we had separate flats, Matt stayed in the BBC apartments, and I rented one a couple of miles north. Eventually though, we were spending so much time round each others flats, and it was getting confusing for Salome being at a different house every couple of nights, having to take all of her stuff to school with her, so not long after our first anniversary, we decided to buy a house, somewhere we could properly settle in, to be a real, little family.” Alex told them all.**

**“It worked too, because it was buying the house that really kick started everything. That was the year that everything changed.” Matt added.**

25th January 2011

“Where are you? Are you still at work?” Salome asked down the phone. She was home alone, and had been expecting her mum and Matt home an hour before. All of her homework was done, and now she was bored.

“I’m with Matt, sweetie. I thought you would be home a while ago, you said netball club was cancelled.”

“It was Mum, I’m at home.”

Alex stood up from where she had been on the sofa, snuggled up next to Matt. This was always going to happen eventually. “You were supposed to come to Matt’s tonight darling. Stay there, I’m on my way to pick you up.” Alex hung up the phone, and leant down quickly to kiss Matt. “Salome went home instead of here, I’ve got to pick her up.”

“Don’t worry about it, beautiful. We can stay round yours tonight instead. Let me just grab my bag.” Matt answered.

By the time he returned a few minutes later, Alex was pacing worriedly up and down the living room. She had left her 11 year old daughter home alone for an hour, she hadn’t known where she was. What kind of mother was she? Salome didn’t know what flat they were staying in from one night to the next, it wasn’t fair on her. 

He could sense the worry radiating from Alex. He too felt guilty, it was partly his fault. It had been a last minute decision to stay at his flat rather than Alex’s that night, because his call times for the next day had changed and he was now due on set earlier. For the sake of an extra 15 minutes in bed, Salome must have been panicking. 

It didn’t take them long to get back to Alex’s flat, and Alex ran in, hugging her daughter when she finally laid eyes on her, apologising for the confusion. It really wasn’t fair on Salome to keep moving about like this. Maybe it was time that her and Matt moved in together, neither of their flats were ideal though. It was definitely time to have that conversation with him though.

She waited until they were in bed, both curled up around each other before she brought it up. She lay with Matt’s head on her chest, threading her fingers through his hair while he had his hand on her stomach, tickling her golden skin lightly.

“Matt?” She asked quietly, pulling him out of his daydreams. “We can’t keep doing this, all the chopping and changing between apartments. I don’t want to leave Salome like that again.”

Matt looked up at her, pillowing his chin on his arms that were folded across her stomach. He had been thinking the same think just a minute before.

“I know. I was thinking about it too. I thought, maybe, you two might like to move in with me. It’s closer to the studios, and Salome’s school, and it’s a little bigger than your flat.” He offered, looking up at her with such sincerity. 

“That would be lovely honey, but, I was thinking, maybe we could get somewhere new, some place of our own.” 

Their eyes locked as Alex’s words and the implications of them hung in the air. Alex drew her bottom lip between her teeth, biting it gently as she worried about whether she had suggested too much.

“I think that is a brilliant idea.” Matt said happily, grinning from ear to ear. “Let’s buy our own place.” He surged up her body, pinning her wrists above her head and kissed her passionately. Alex shrieked at Matt’s sudden dominance, laughing gently into his mouth as she relaxed at his ministrations.

They had a lot to work out, but they would get there, she knew it.

26th February 2011

Once they had decided to get their own place, they then had to decide what type of place they wanted (both quickly agreeing on a house, rather than a flat) and more importantly where. 

Matt wouldn’t be the Doctor forever, and knew that once he left, then he would probably no longer live in Cardiff, as there wasn’t much other work. Neither of them particularly wanted to live in London either, it was big, loud, over crowded, and expensive, plus, until Matt did leave Who, there would be an awful commute for him.

After a week or so of discussing, they eventually settled on looking at properties around Oxford. It was 2 hours from Cardiff, and an hour and a half from London, close enough for them both to commute to and from regularly, but not daily. With a house in the region of Oxford, they would be able to spend the weekends together, and when Alex was needed in Cardiff for filming too, her sister had agreed to come and stay to look after Salome if she couldn’t join Matt and Alex.

With them both having well paid jobs, and Alex’s having sold her house in LA, brought with help from her grandparents, they had a budget far better than that of most other people their age. They spent their weekends looking around houses with Salome, with the young girl instantly picking out her potential bedrooms in each one. Alex started to get disheartened, until one evening, Matt shoved his laptop into her lap as she was trying to learn her lines, telling her to look at the new build house in Oxford that had just been listed.

It was a mansion style house, with a private gated entrance, pillars beside the door and a double garage to the side, with plenty of parking on the gravel driveway as well, it was an opulent looking house, looking well out of their price range, but it did look like everything they were looking for. Alex’s heart sunk when she saw the indoor, heated pool, the acre of land, the marble bathrooms, and the 6 bedrooms, 4 of which had en-suite bathrooms. The kitchen was modern, light and airy, but the living room had a large, open fireplace. 

“Matt… It’s beautiful, but there is no way we can afford that.” She said sadly.

“We won’t be able to redecorate straight away, but I like the white walls for a start. It’s half a mile from the train station, 10 miles outside Oxford centre, and is just a mile from, what I’ve heard is an excellent secondary school for Salome, and has two OFSTED rated outstanding primary schools and nurseries within a mile as well, should we ever think about that.”

The more Matt spoke, the more perfect this house sounded. “Have you even looked at the price honey? Because I bet that it is at least half a million more than we can afford, at least!”

Matt looked at her with a knowing, cheeky grin and started squirming on the spot. “You see, the thing is, I may have talked to the estate agents about possibly putting in an offer, saying that we were very keen and they were happy with it. I got a call an hour ago, accepting the offer. We should be able to move in end of March/early April once all of the legal stuff’s sorted.”

Alex gapped at Matt, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. Why hadn’t he discussed it with her, before making an offer?

“Matt… you can’t just buy a house without talking to me about it! What if I didn’t like it, or it wasn’t suitable?”

“I knew you would love it, it’s got all of the features you said you wanted, and more. It wouldn’t have been on the market for long, so I made an offer while I could, knowing I could always withdraw it should you not like it. Please tell me you like it?”

“I don’t know what to say Matt. We haven’t even seen it.” Alex stood up and marched off to their bedroom, shutting Matt out with a slam of their door.

Alex threw herself onto the bed in a huff as Matt stood stock still in the living room, staring at the space where Alex had been sitting. He’d been so sure that she would be happy. He didn’t know what to say to Salome when she stuck her head out of her door a few minutes later, asking if everything was ok.

He told Salome to carry on with her homework then to go to bed, and decided his best bet would be to leave Alex for an hour, then to approach her cautiously, possibly with a glass of wine, or a cup of tea to calm her down more. Maybe it hadn’t been his smartest idea, but he knew the house was perfect for them, and didn’t want to miss out on it. It was the sort of house that he could picture them in for years to come, surrounded by their children and grandchildren.

He left it 45 minutes, before he couldn’t wait any longer. With Alex’s favourite mug of tea in his hands, Matt knocked softly on his bedroom door, walking into the room to find Alex laying with her back propped up against the headboard of their bed, her face lit up by her tablet.

“I’m sorry.” He admitted. “I should have told you earlier. I just didn’t want to miss out on the house, I knew it would go quickly, when I first rang about it, the estate agent had said they had already had offers on it, but they were all under the asking price. The only reason it hadn’t sold was because they were holding out for slightly more money.”

Alex looked intently at her tablet as Matt climbed onto the bed next to her, but he couldn’t see what she was looking at for a moment until she showed it to him.

“I assume that would be our bedroom, and then this one for Salome?” She asked quietly, pointing at the floor plans for the house that she had managed to pull up online.

“The big one for us, definitely, and I guessed that would be the one Salome would want as well, with the big closet and en-suite, but it’s up to her I guess.”

“And you said it’s near good nurseries and primary schools, and well as a good secondary for Salome?” She asked further. 

“All of them have been rated outstanding by OFSTED in the last two years, and are within walking distance.” He could tell that Alex was warming to the idea of the house, but he wasn’t certain if she was convinced. It was obvious she had spent the last 45 minutes looking at it online.

“Then, I suppose this small room here, opposite our bedroom, would make a lovely nursery.” She said softly, her hand drifting down to rest on her stomach absent mindedly.

Matt noticed her hand moving instantly, and his eyes widen in shock. He placed his hand lovingly over the top of Alex’s, looking up at her with twinkling eyes.

“Alex...” He whispered, a smile tugging at his lips. “Are you… Are you pregnant?”

She looked down at their hands on her stomach, she hadn’t even realised she had done it. “No! No, I’m not pregnant, I just meant, you know… One day, in the future, maybe we could use that room as a nursery.” She laughed, realising how it must have looked to him. “It’s nice to know you didn’t freak out at the thought though.”

“Freak out? Why would I freak out sweetheart?” Matt asked worriedly, pulling his hands from her stomach to cup her cheeks. “Having a baby would be a wonderful thing, yes, I know we haven’t been together that long in the grand scheme things, and we aren’t married yet, but I’d be so happy.”

Alex looked up at Matt sadly, her mind whirring with thoughts of her past. “Last time, when I fell pregnant with Salome, I thought he loved me. I know we were young, but we had been together for three years, we had talked about having kids some day, getting married, our own house after we had finished university. Then, as soon as I told him, he ran. Came back a few days later, and issued me with an ultimatum, him or the baby. Even then, I was only 5 weeks pregnant at the most, but I knew that my baby came first.” She told him honestly. Over the year they had been together, Alex had told him a few things about Salome’s father, but never the whole story. He knew that the man abandoned Alex alone, pregnant at the age of 17, relying on her family for help. “I don’t want that to happen again Matt.” She whispered.

“It won’t. I promise you, if you were pregnant now and it was unplanned, or if we wait until we are married and start trying, I will not abandon you sweetheart. I’m not going anywhere.” He reassured her.

Alex shifted so that Matt lay underneath her, and she rested her head on his chest, wrapping her arm around his waist. “I’m sorry I overreacted. The house looks perfect. Can we go and have a look at it?”


	9. Big decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Everything, literally. For example, I was sitting right there,” Matt said, pointing to the chair by the fireplace, “when I decided that I wanted to marry Alex.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really need to get on with writing and posting the rest of this, but you know what real life is like... why does it have to get in the way of my Mattex!?!?!?
> 
> Enjoy and let me know!

**22nd January 2040**

**“And?” Zach asked. “Did she forgive you for buying a house without discussing it? I know I wouldn’t be sitting here right now if I’d done that!”**

**“I’d like to think your mother forgave me eventually… I have my ways.” Matt suggested with a wiggle of his eyebrows in Alex’s direction. She looked back at him with an arched eyebrow, telling him without speaking that he was being a bit full of himself, and that maybe their children wouldn’t want to hear about his methods of persuasion. Salome, Zach and Rose looked at each other with wrinkled noses in disgust.**

**“Yes Zach, I did forgive him. The house was perfect for us, so perfect in fact, that it’s the house you are sitting in right now, we’ve never wanted to move away.” Alex told her son.**

**Everyone looked around the living room, thinking back over all of the memories that had been made there, and of all the memories that would be made in the future. The house held a very special place in Matt and Alex’s hearts.**

**They all sat quietly for a while, until Matt broke the silence. “I know that I can’t imagine us living anywhere else. This place has become so important, all of the big moments in our lives since we got together really have been in this house.”**

**“Like what?” Lucy asked quietly.**

**“Everything, literally. For example, I was sitting right there,” Matt said, pointing to the chair by the fireplace, “when I decided that I wanted to marry Alex.”**

26th June 2011

It had taken them a couple of months, but finally their house was sort. Their house, the sound of that made Matt smile every time he heard or thought it. He’d lived with girlfriends before, but had never brought a house with one. He was sat in the plush armchair by the fire, his script sitting in his lap, a lukewarm cup of tea on the coffee table beside him as he he looked over to the dining table in the next room, where Alex was sat next to her daughter, helping the girl with her school project. 

Alex was busy cutting up bits of paper after they had printed, sticking them to a larger piece of card, checking with Salome before sticking each piece down while Salome busied herself with typing up the facts they had found and researching more, both laughing at the more ridiculous facts about animals that they found, occasionally shouting some out to Matt. He couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face as he looked at them. The sheer level of love he felt just looking at his two favourite girls was almost painful. He would do anything at all to keep them safe, to make sure that both of them each and every day knew just how loved and precious they were to him. If it meant walking to the ends of the earth to see Salome smile, or for Alex to feel as gorgeous as she looked. There wasn’t a single doubt in his mind, that Matt wanted to spend the rest of his life with the two beautiful women in the other room. He knew then, for definite, that he wanted to marry Alex. 

With his head against the back of the chair and his eyes closed, Matt let his imagination run wild, picturing himself down on one knee in front of a shocked, and hopefully happy Alex. He thought about what their wedding day would be like, what sort of dress Alex would wear, how they could include Salome, what the two of them would get up to on their wedding night. In the future too, he could see himself sitting exactly where he was now, reading to the young child in his lap, as Alex watched on from the sofa, taking photos of her husband and child in their own little world.

He was so caught up in his daydreams, that Matt didn’t see Alex come up in front of him, until she plucked the script from his lap and placed herself there instead, winding her arms around his neck as Matt slowly blinked his eyes open, waking to see his beautiful girlfriend smiling down at him.

“You ok?” She asked softly, kissing him gently.

“Of course, just thinking.” He mumbled back to her.

“About?”

“How much I love my girls.” Matt answered happily, pulling Alex flush to him. He cupped her cheeks and kissed her with everything he had, pouring into the kiss all the love he felt for them both and his hopes for the future.

“Good answer.” Alex giggled, just as Salome walked into the room.

The following day, Matt set himself up in the same armchair, a hot tea and his bank card next to him, and his tablet in his lap, wondering where on earth he should start looking for an engagement ring for Alex. It had to be the right one, and he didn’t want to rush picking it, but Alex had only gone out for an audition in London, she would only be gone for another three or four hours at the most. 

Matt pulled up google, and searched for traditional engagement rings, scrolling through pages and pages of silver and gold solitaire diamond rings. There was a mass of rings with single inset diamonds, clusters of diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, rubies, and every other type of precious gem he could think of. A few rings caught his eye, but none of them quite fitted Alex. She was a unique woman, she deserved a special ring.

Matt was snapped out of the scrolling by the sound of a soft gasp coming from behind him, a second after a page declaring ‘how to find the right engagement ring’ loaded.

“Matt! You’re going to propose to Mum?” Salome squealed. “That’s so exciting!”

Matt span around in the chair, sending the tablet flying across the floor and narrowly avoiding the tea cup from heading in the same direction. 

“Sal! You made me jump.” Matt complained.

“You’re going to propose to Mum? Does she know? Have you picked a ring yet? How long have you been planning this? How are you going to pop the question? Can I be there? Oh! Can I be a bridesmaid? Will I take your surname as well? Salome Violetta Smith, that sounds pretty cool, don’t you think? I mean I don’t want to be the only Kingston in the house, that isn’t fair is it?” She asked, rambling away to herself until she was out of breath, making Matt stop her and remind her to breathe.

“Yes, I was planning on asking your mum to marry me, but only if I have your blessing.” Matt told her, shifting so that Salome could sit on the arm of the chair beside him. “I love you and your mum, more than I ever thought it was possible to love anyone. The two of you make me happier than I’ve ever been before, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you both, but only if you are happy with that, are you? Are you happy for me to marry your mum? Will you give me your blessing to propose?”

When he looked up at Salome, he saw her young eyes glistening with tears, but she was nodding her head furiously. “Yes! Yes, of course! I want you to marry mummy!” Salome said, wiping the tears from her cheeks before throwing her arms around Matt’s neck. “You’ll be my stepdad.”

Matt held his arms tightly around Salome’s waist, pressing a fleeting kiss to the top of her head as she buried her face in the crook of his neck. “I can’t think of a better little girl to have as my stepdaughter! And in answer to the tirade of questions, your mum doesn’t know I’m planning it, but we have vaguely discussed it. I don’t have a ring, I can’t pick one, but I only decided yesterday that I definitely want to do this soon, I’m not sure how and where yet, maybe I’ll take her back into the Bay where we had our first date. You can be there if you really want to be, but you’ll have to ask your mum if you can be bridesmaid or take my name, but I would be honoured if you did. I do have a question for you though, can you help me choose a ring?”

Salome’s smile was so bright, Matt was worried her face would split. “I will, but not on this site. They are all wrong. Mum wouldn’t want something normal and boring for an engagement ring. She’s different to other people, isn’t she? So, I think she would like a ring that’s a bit different too.”

“You’re right poppet. Come on, get comfortable, then we can pick one out.”

By the time Alex returned home three hours later, Matt had the order confirmation for what looked like the perfect ring sitting in his email inbox, and a solemn promise from Salome to not breathe a word of their discussion to Alex. He had the ring, now all he had to do was plan how he was going to ask.


	10. Special Episode

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It’s lovely Matt, but I’m not sure it would suit me… Maybe, I could suggest giving it to a certain girlfriend of yours instead?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I DID NOT MEAN TO LEAVE IT THIS LONG WITHOUT UPDATING!!!!! You know what life is like, it gets in the way and I kind of lost my creative flow!
> 
> But here we go, one of my 2 favourite chapters!!
> 
> I'll try not to leave it as long next time, enjoy and let me know!
> 
> I'm on instagram and sarahah as doctorsmelody

**22nd January 2040**

**Matt looked down at his hand, entwined in his lap with Alex’s left hand. The engagement ring him and Salome had eventually picked out still sat proudly on her finger, and he twisted it round lightly before raising Alex’s hand to his lips and kissing her knuckles softly.**

**“Took us ages to pick a ring out, didn’t it Dad? Trying to find something that was different, but still obviously an engagement ring. I think we did a good job.” Salome said, looking across at her mother’s engagement ring, before looking down at her own, two such different styles.**

**“You both did a wonderful job. I love my ring so much, and I love that you asked Salome as well as my father, it made the whole experience really special darling.” Alex answered, looking at her husband with such love. Even after all these years, when he looked at her with those big old eyes of his, her stomach still did flips and her heart skipped a beat. He always made her feel so cherished, like he couldn’t live without her.**

**“I’m glad you liked it, took a bit of planning!” Matt admitted sheepishly. “It wasn’t easy to pull off.”**

**“I’ve never asked, how did you propose?” James asked.**

**As soon as James had closed his mouth, all of the other adults shared knowing looks, wondering whether he was fishing for proposal ideas for Rose. Alex knew that should he do so, she would be over the moon for them, just as she was when Salome and Zach both got engaged. She couldn’t be prouder of her children for choosing such perfect partners for themselves, they all complimented each other perfectly. James was the calm to Rose’s whirlwind excitableness, Lucy was the planned, organised one to Zach’s chaos, and Mark was the father, the happy stay at home dad to Salome’s busy career, although she spent as much time as she could with her children.**

**“Well, after I had asked Anthony for Alex’s hand in marriage, and I had the ring safely tucked away in my sock drawer, there was one other person I needed to speak to first to help me pull my plan off. I knew how much Alex loved being on set, and loved Doctor Who in general, so I knew I had to propose on set, but I needed help.” Matt told them all excitedly.**

5th July 2011

Matt was pacing around the corridors in the studios nervously. The ring was burning a hole in his pocket. He knew from a chat he’d had with Steven the week before, that the next episode to be filmed was called ‘The Wedding of River Song’, and he knew that, unsurprisingly, the Doctor married River. The scripts were due to be sent out any day now, and Matt needed Steven to make a quick amendment, to his and Alex’s copies of the script if no one else. Alex had to believe that this was all about the characters.

Eventually, Matt knew his time was running out, he had to catch Steven before he gave the go ahead for the scripts to be sent, so he told himself to grow a pair and knocked on his boss’s door, walking in quietly when he heard Steven tell him to come in.

They spent a few minutes making awkward small talk, all the usual topics like the weather, the commute and staff gossip were covered, all the while Matt continued delaying the talk he needed to have until it became painfully obvious that there was an elephant in the room.

“So!” Steven boomed heartily, leaning back in his reclining office chair the other side of his opulent desk. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your company, Matt? I assume you didn’t spend the better part of an hour walking up and down the corridor to discuss the unusually warm weather we are enjoying?”

Matt rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, not wanting to look up at Steven. For some reason, he wasn’t sure why, Matt suddenly felt incredibly self conscious. Though, Steven was going to be the first person, aside from Salome and Anthony, to know that he was planning on proposing. Steven’s help wasn’t completely necessary, but Matt and Salome had come up with a plan, and he wanted to see it through.

“No, I suppose I didn’t. I do need to talk to you though.”

“Please, don’t say I’m going to lose you already Matt. You’re doing so well, and it’s a bit late to get a replacement lined up for you in time to regenerate at Christmas, so you would probably have to do series 7. Haven’t you already signed the contract for that though?”

With his brow furrowed, Matt looked up at Steven, hastily making notes on a scrap of paper. “Yes, I have. Don’t worry, I’m not leaving!” He answered quickly. Instead, Matt pulled the small red, rose shaped box out of his jacket pocket, snapped the lid open and placed it on Steven’s desk, the diamonds glinting in the light. 

Steven looked down at the ring box in front of him, slowly stretching his arm out to reach for it. “It’s lovely Matt, but I’m not sure it would suit me… Maybe, I could suggest giving it to a certain girlfriend of yours instead?”

“That’s what I want your help with. I want to propose to Alex… and I want to do it in character.”

It had taken nearly an hour for Matt to explain his plan, and to get Steven to agree to help, which he only agreed to do once he finally realised the actual proposal wouldn’t have to be written by him. There was a line to his writing skills, Steven had admitted. He wouldn’t write a wedding proposal for another man.

The plan was set, after being tweaked slightly. Everyone on set would be issued a new copy of the script. In it, there was now an additional scene at the end of the episode, just after River had told her parents that the Doctor was actually alive. Feeling guilty for forcing River’s hand into marrying him, the Doctor was determined to make things right, and to do things properly. So, he pulls River and her parents into the Tardis, taking them out on a romantic day out, before getting down on one knee in the Tardis and asking River if she would marry him, this time without the pressures of time itself ending if they didn’t. All being well, the whole cast and crew would only be told it was a fake scene the morning they were due to film it, and there was always the possibility that the scene would end up among the DVD extras.

By the end of the week, Matt was back at home in Oxford, with an even more excitable than usual Salome and a script sitting in his lap. 

“It’s a beautiful script, isn’t it honey?” Alex asked, placing an arm around each of her favourite people. “I can’t wait to start filming it, especially that final scene. Who would have thought that one day you would see the Doctor down on one knee?”

30th July 2011

Alex walked through the studios, fanning herself with her now worn and battered script. It was always hot in the studios, and with the heatwave it was almost unbearable, not made any better by the fact that the set seemed busier than usual today. There were more people, but it was good. There was a buzzing, electric atmosphere on set, everyone seemed to be excitable and in a good mood. Maybe they were all excited over the scenes they were filming, the Doctor proposing to River.

It had made her cry the first time she read the script. The wedding scene itself was beautiful, but once she got to the proposal, it almost broke her heart. She could just picture how the Doctor would feel guilty because of what happened to River because of him, this was his way of making things better for her, a small apology for having to spend her life in prison for him.

She looked around for Matt, he had already left for work that morning when she woke up. Her arm had stretched out behind her, hoping to find Matt’s warm body, ready for a proper good morning, making the most of Salome not being there with them, but found nothing but cold, empty sheets, and a post it note scrawled hastily and dumped on her mobile, telling her that he would see her on set.

She had been at work for nearly two hours already, and she still hadn’t seen him. No one, it seemed wanted to talk to her either, which was unusual, but there seemed to be a flurry of activity all around the studios, everyone was probably just busy. In the end, Alex grabbed herself a cup of tea, and left the studio building to find a quiet bench overlooking Cardiff bay, making the most of the summer sun. It was the one thing from LA that she missed. She had just swallowed the last of her tea when she heard footsteps approaching her from behind, and the familiar boom of Steven’s voice.

“Ah! This is where the delightful Miss Kingston is hiding! You know, if you wanted to hide a bit better, maybe start with the curls, they do give you away a little bit.” He told her, settling himself down next to her on the bench, looking out over the still water. “We’re ready for you now in studio 2, there’s no rush though. Just head inside when you’re ready.” He added, pulling himself up from the bench again.

“Thanks Steven, I won’t be long.” Alex said, smiling up at Steven as she shielded her eyes from the sun. The look on Steven’s face was unreadable.

“You look really beautiful today Alex. I hope Matt knows just how lucky he is.” 

Alex laughed at Steven’s cheekiness. “Well, the make up girls did do a pretty good job today, what with this being such a key scene.”

“Indeed, it’s a very important day Miss Kingston, especially for you and Matt.” Steven placed a hand on her arm and leant in to kiss Alex’s cheek. “I’ll see you soon.”

Alex stood up, walking over to the railings by the water, giggling to herself at Steven’s comments, obviously the heat and the excitement of the Doctor’s proposal was getting to him. She shook her head, the golden curls twisting and shaking in the sunlight, until she got herself into character. With her hands on the railing, Alex took a deep breath, channelling all of her inner River Song, then pulled herself away from the view towards Cardiff, heading back into the studios for a long days filming.

As she walked back into the cavernous studios, Alex truly acknowledged that something must be in the air. Everyone was literally buzzing with excitement, and were all looking at her strangely, but she shook the feeling aside, for she had a job to do, and right now she was about to witness Matt down on one knee for her… well, for River, but a girl could hope.

It had barely been 18 months since they first started dating, but Alex could see this relationship going the distance, she could picture marriage, babies, graduations and retirement with Matt, and with the thought of him by her side, none of it seemed scary.

“Right! Can everyone head to their marks please? We don’t want to spend too much time rehearsing this if possible.” Steven shouted, as Alex caught Matt’s eye, waving to him briefly as she headed up towards the stage.

“You look beautiful, love.” He mumbled as she approached him, kissing her ever so lightly on the cheek. “They’ve done a good job today.”

Alex opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by Steven reminding them all to move to their spots for rehearsal.

“And…. Action!” He shouted.

Matt burst through the Tardis doors, running up to the console and throwing switches and pushing buttons all over, as Alex, Karen and Arthur all trudged in after him. They’d all had a brilliant day, but were exhausted.

Alex, using her best flirty River Song smirk sneaked up behind Matt and wrapped her arms around his waist, spinning him in her arms to give him a kiss as thanks for taking her out.

“Doctor? We’re going to go and have a nap.” Karen told him as Amy, taking her screen husband’s hand and starting to lead him down the steps, not wanting to see their daughter and best friend making out in front of them.

“Not so fast Pond!” Matt shouted, pulling back from a slightly confused River. “I have something else I need to do before you go. River?”

She looked up at him with fluttering eyelashes, ready with a quick retort on her tongue. “Yes, sweetie?”

The Doctor took River’s hands, holding them in his own and smiled at her so lovingly River thought her heart would break.

“I’ve been thinking a lot over the last few weeks, about things between us, how happy I have been since you came into my life, and how happy I hope you are too. I love you River, more than you will ever know, but I didn’t treat you properly. You deserve everything, and that includes a proper proposal. Last time, you didn’t have a choice in marrying me, but now, I want you to have that choice.” He fumbled around in his pocket, pulling out a small black box from inside his jacket. He bent down on one knee, and smiled up at River. “River Song, I love you, will you do me the honour of marrying me, again?” The box opened in his hands, revealing a stunning Tardis blue sapphire silver ring. River’s hands flew to her face in shock and Amy and Rory watched on from the sidelines. “What do you say River? Will you marry me?”

A stray tear rolled down River’s cheek. “Yes.” She whispered, so quietly she wondered whether the camera’s would be able to even pick it up, so she nodded her head furiously. “Yes. I’ll marry you.” The Doctor sprang up from the floor, wrapping his arms around River’s body, spinning her around on the spot before cupping her face to kiss her, ring still in his hands. They pulled apart, careful to keep the kiss appropriate for a family show, as the Doctor took River’s left hand in his so he could place the ring on her finger. “I love you River Song.”

“As I love you, Doctor Song.” River laughed back, her words being drowned out by Amy and Rory’s cheering.

“Cut! That’s brilliant, everyone. We’ll just rehearse a couple more times before we start filming. Alex and Matt, maybe be a bit more chaste with the kiss next time, and Karen and Arthur, could you step forward a little more, you might end up getting cut out of the screen otherwise, but other than that, it’s perfect. Take your places again.” Steven called to them all. 

Alex gently wiped the tears from under her eyes, careful not to smudge her make up too much before taking the ring off and passing it back to Matt.

They rehearsed twice more until Steven deemed the fake scene perfect, and declared the next shot would be the real thing after getting the nod from Matt that he was happy to actually do it this time. Matt’s face nearly broke out into a massive grin as he saw the wistful look in Alex’s eyes as her make up was fixed, looking down at the ring she still wore on her left hand, almost as if she could have her own engagement ring. 

The cast kept Alex occupied while the camera crew set up, hiding her from the commotion going on behind her. They talked about their plans for the summer ahead when they all had a break from filming, what they would be doing, and where they wanted to go on holiday. Matt slipped away from the conversation, making sure Karen and Arthur knew to keep Alex clueless while he went to talk to Steven and make sure everything was set up perfectly, including letting in all of their families, who had travelled to Cardiff to witness the proposal. By the time everything was set up again, Matt was a quivering bundle of nerves. Everyone knew that this was the take when he would actually propose to Alex, he had to hope it went well, if it didn’t, he would face humiliation in front of all his nearest and dearest, as well as the whole set. It seemed everyone had come to watch this take, from Salome, his parents and sister, Alex’s parents and two sisters, their best friends, as well as possibly everyone who worked on the show, even the caterers, editors, and set designers who weren’t usually allowed in when filming were there. Matt took a deep breath as Steven called for calm and quiet on set as they were filming.

Alex looked out behind the camera’s. “Is it just me, or does there seem to be a lot of people in here?”

“Everyone wants to watch the Doctor propose!” Karen teased, slapping Matt on the back, only Alex didn’t know that it was a good luck sign for Matt, not the Doctor.

“And… Action!”

They started from the beginning, trudging into the Tardis after a long day, inevitably chasing after monsters and nearly getting killed. Alex sneaked up behind Matt again, hugging him close to her, and then spun him around so she could kiss him. Karen dutifully supplied her line about her and Rory wanting a nap, when once again the Doctor stopped them.

“Yes, sweetie?” Alex asked, as Matt took her hands. She could feel his hands shaking in her own, and looked up at him worriedly, but being careful to keep in character.

“I’ve been thinking a lot over the last few weeks, about things between us, how happy I have been since you came into my life, and how happy I hope you are too. I love you Alex, more than you will ever know.”

Alex shot Matt a look, he’d said the wrong name, but he didn’t seem to care, cutting her off when she opened her mouth to tell him he was wrong, and no one else seemed to stop him.

“You are without a doubt, the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. You are funny, confident, sexy as hell, infuriating and the best friend I ever have hoped for.”

Alex furrowed her brow, looking over at the director who waved his arms around, signalling for her to just go along with Matt’s ad-libbing. It seemed strange, and highly unusual, but Alex tried not to think too much of it, she had seen Matt talking to Steven and the director just before they started filming, maybe he had discussed changing his lines, it wouldn’t be the first time he had done so.

“Since we got together, 18 months ago, there isn’t a single day that’s past when I haven’t wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, beautiful.” 

Her confused state grew deeper, Matt always called her beautiful. There was this look in his eye as well that nagged at her, almost as though he wasn’t acting.

“I love you.” He whispered, looking at her so sincerely. His hand slipped into his outside pocket, and he pulled out a red, rose shaped ring box, as he got down on one knee before her. Alex looked down at it, even more confused. The one they had been using had been plain black before, hadn’t it? She thought.

“With Salome, and your father’s blessing, I’d like to ask you a question.”

Alex gasped, suddenly it dawned on her that Matt wasn’t acting anymore, and a crash to the side of them dragged her attention from Matt, to see her daughter standing at the front of the crowd, smiling excitedly. Her eyes snapped back to Matt, when she heard the box open. The ring was different. Instead of the silver ring with a Tardis blue sapphire, there was now the most perfect ring Alex could have imagined. A thin, rose gold coloured band, with a cluster of diamonds in the middle, and as she looked closer, she saw that they arranged to form a rose shape, her favourite flower.

“Alexandra Kingston, would you do me the greatest honour of becoming my wife?”

A quick look around the room told Alex all she needed to know. Karen was practically bouncing on the spot, Steven had his hands clasped tightly together, as he always did when he was excited, Salome’s smile looked like it would break her face, she caught sight of all of hers and Matt’s families among the crowd, and Matt had a definite sheen on sweat on his forehead.

“Are you still acting Matt?” She asked quickly, just wanting to make sure before she answered him.

He shook his head with a laugh, knowing that she would have been confused. “No, beautiful. I’m not acting now. Alexandra Elizabeth Kingston, will you marry me, Matthew Robert Smith?” He said, making sure his intentions were perfectly clear.

She couldn’t stop the tears from falling, her make up running down her face leaving tracks along her cheeks. It suddenly dawned on her that Matt was shuffling slightly awkwardly in front of her, not only was he balanced quite precariously for him, but he also was still down on one knee, holding an engagement ring in front of all their family and friends and hadn’t been given and answer.

“Yes.” Alex said, almost shouting from the rooftops. “Yes, I’ll marry you, Matt.” She surged forward before Matt could get up, toppling him to the ground with her landing on top of him, the ring box falling out of his hand as he embraced her, leaving them both laying on the glass floor of the Tardis, snogging like randy teenagers, surrounded by everyone they loved whooping and cheering around them. After a minute, Matt gently eased himself out from under Alex, took her left hand in his, and slid the ring onto her finger, smiling all the brighter when it fitted perfectly as a small pair of arms wrapped around the pair of them.

“Congratulations!” Salome shouted in their ears as they all hugged on the floor. “You’re going to be my new Daddy Matty.”

Both Matt and Alex’s cheeks were hurting from all the smiling, but they both hugged and kissed each other and Salome as they slowly became aware of everyone around them. Dutifully, they all pulled themselves up to rapturous applause and the flashes of many cameras, showing off the ring to anyone and everyone who would look at it as the console set was flooded with well wishers.

“I love you darling.” Alex whispered, finally pulling her hand free so she could get closer to Matt.

“Not as much as I love you future Mrs Smith.”

“And me! Don’t forget me!” Salome called behind them. “I love you both too.”

“And we both love you too, future Salome Smith.” Matt laughed.


	11. Set the date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So, I knew about the proposal, and I know when your wedding anniversary is… did you really plan your wedding in what? 5 months?” Rose asked curiously to Lucy’s amazement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow.... I'm really bad at updating at the moment!!! Sorry!!!!
> 
> Anyway, if anyone is still reading this, enjoy!!!!!!!!!

**22nd January 2040**

**“Did they actually film it then?” James asked, in awe of Matt’s elaborate proposal. From the look on Rose’s face, he would have to do something truly incredible to top that in her eyes. Zach looked a bit starstruck by his father, thinking back on his own pitiful excuse for a wedding proposal for Lucy when he noticed the longing look on her face too.**

**“They did. They did think about including it in the series 6 DVD extras, but decided against it in the end, just releasing a whole load of stills instead on our behalf.” Matt answered.**

**“They even got the photographer on set to take some photo’s of us. The one on the table over there is what was released as our official engagement photo, it was our favourite.” Alex added.**

**James, Mark and Lucy headed over to the photos, and Mark quickly spotted the photo they were talking about, hidden among the sea of photos of all of the children. Rose and Zach already knew the story, they had watched the video of their father proposing many times, Rose especially. The photo had never been noticed by the others though.**

**In it, Alex had taken her ring off, and placed it back in the box, which was propped up on the Tardis console, slightly off centre but in focus in the shot, with Matt and Alex kissing each other behind it, a bit blurred but clearly embracing each other tightly. His hand was just visible at the back of her head, the other pulling her lower body close as Alex clung to Matt’s biceps like they were a lifeguard.**

**“That is impressive. Shame your romantic skills didn’t pass on to your son, eh?” Lucy commented, shooting Zach a withering look, much to his embarrassment.**

**James made a mental note that when the time came, he should go all out with his proposal. He’d need something romantic, public, and meaningful, but not too much. It was certain that he would ask Matt for his advice, he was obviously a romantic and knew Rose better than anyone, but maybe asking wouldn’t be for the best. He didn’t want Matt thinking he was incapable. The thoughts about proposing had only just started though, he had a little while to think about it yet, there was no rush – they certainly couldn’t afford to get married any time soon.**

**“So, I knew about the proposal, and I know when your wedding anniversary is… did you really plan your wedding in what? 5 months?” Rose asked curiously to Lucy’s amazement.**

**“5 months? That’s incredible! How? Why?” She asked.**

**“It’s simple.” Alex answered, looking at Matt before he spoke too.**

**“We couldn’t wait any longer before we were married.”**

5th September 2011

Alex was slowly starting to realise that maybe they hadn’t taken on a bit more than they could chew this time. Both of them wanted to be married, to be able to properly start their life together, but Matt had been determined that he wanted a winter wonderland themed wedding, and he didn’t want to wait until the following Christmas to get hitched. So, they were left with just 5 months to plan what Matt was planning on being quite an extravagant wedding. Although Alex would have been happy with a simple registry office wedding with just their nearest and dearest in attendance, part of her loved the idea of a themed wedding (as long as it wasn’t tacky – she’d drawn the line at having Santa arrive at the reception) and the knowledge that both Matt and Salome were so eager to help with the planning of it.

During the break in filming, Alex and Matt had managed to organise and book a lot of the necessary things for their wedding. The date had been set for December 23rd, the venue had been booked, a gorgeous manor house in Bristol, along with a hotel nearby for themselves and their guests to stay in that night. The colour scheme of silver and navy blue (Tardis blue as Matt kept insisting) was coming together, and Matt was bragging constantly that him and the groomsmen were all suited and booted. Even the bridesmaids had their dresses, along with a different dress picked especially for Salome as the maid of honour. The only major thing left to organise… and Alex had to admit it was quite a major part of the wedding… was her dress.

Now, Alex was in the middle of the bridal shop, standing in a sea of lace, organza, silk and chiffon, surrounded by her daughter, bridesmaids, Nicola, Karen, Laura and Jen, plus both her mum and Matt’s, at a complete loss of where to start looking.

As a little girl, Alex had pictured her wedding, but had never been able to decide what style dress she wanted. Over the years, she had pictured herself wearing every style possible, from slinky, tight, form-fitting numbers that accentuated all of her curves to looser styles, from mermaid tails to big, puffy marshmallow looking dresses, from sweetheart necklines to daring backless dresses. Among all of the different thoughts, Alex had always held tight to the knowledge that she would know the dress she wanted when she saw it. Over the last month, she had looked online, and in more shop windows than she thought possible, and not a single dress had jumped out at her.

As the day wore on, Alex grew more and more despondent, the thought that she may never find the perfect dress horrified her, yet was becoming a strong possibility. She didn’t want to walk down the aisle in a dress she didn’t think was perfect, even though she knew she could walk down there wearing a potato sack and Matt would still declare her the most beautiful woman ever. For as long as she could remember, Alex had always gotten annoyed when women complained about not being able to find the perfect dress, having always thought that what you wore wasn’t important, the wedding was about the wedding and groom (and in her case daughter as well) joining together in all respects and becoming their own family, but now, she knew just how important her dress was.

The first one she had tried on was removed before the store assistant had even finished lacing it up. The ball gown was, in Alex’s opinion, wider than she was tall, much to everyone’s amusement, with Salome declaring that she looked like a meringue. 

The second one was completely different. As Alex hadn’t liked the ball gown style at all, this time she opted for something completely different, and went for a tight, form fitting, halterneck dress, with a lace bust and no back. Everyone liked it aside from Alex. It accentuated all of her curves, but wasn’t very easy to walk in, and with the backless style, there was no doubt that Alex would get cold having a winter wedding.

Next up was a vast improvement on the previous dresses. With long lace sleeves, with was very reminiscent of the dress Kate Middleton has worn to her wedding. It was lovely, and everyone agreed that it made Alex look gorgeous, but there was just something about it that she wasn’t happy with. As she knocked back the remains of her champagne and asked for another glass, Alex insisted that they carry on looking.

The knee length, prom style dress wasn’t suitable, others made her look fat or frumpy (In her opinion at least), didn’t flatter her figure enough or flattered it a bit too much (There would be children at the wedding, and fans and members of the public would probably see photos too – it had to be appropriate and not show too much skin). Alex had just about given up all hope, when the store assistant, Cath, brought out a dress that she thought Alex might like. It combined, from what she could see, all of the different bits of dresses that Alex had liked, with an added twist, the only thing the assistant would say, was that Alex couldn’t see it until she was wearing it, and neither could anyone else.

Cath closed the curtain around Alex, passing her an old shred of silk to wrap around her eyes, before slipping out and bringing in the dress. As she stepped into it with help from another assistant, Alex was filled with dread about the dress, would sort of thing would it be if she wasn’t allowed to see it yet, and why wasn’t she allowed to? It felt lacy, had a ‘bit of pouff’ in the skirt as Salome had been describing the dresses, and had small capped sleeves from what Alex could feel. It was light, and even quite comfortable as they laced up the dress from behind. 

Slowly, Cath pulled back the curtain, after telling everyone in the room to close their eyes. They guided Alex into the middle of the room, and she gently bit her lower lip, still blindfolded as her family and friends were told that they could open their eyes. 

All Alex could hear were gasps as the blindfold was slipped off from around her eyes, the sight greeting her nothing but elated, tear filled faces.

“Liebling, you look stunning.” Her mum told her.

“Alex, that is beautiful.” Karen added.

All Alex could look at though, was Salome. Her cherubic little face had tears slowly rolling down her cheeks, but her smile was brighter than the sun. She seemed incapable of speaking, merely nodding her head as fast as she could.

“That’s it Mum, that’s the dress!” She finally managed to squeak, running up and hugging Alex close. “You look so beautiful.”

“Matt will really love that dress Lex, you have to get it.” Her sister agreed. 

“Well, I guess I should have a look at it then.” Alex answered, having not looked down at the dress so far. 

Salome pealed her arms away from Alex so she could turn and look in the mirror, gasping when she saw the dress. It was different, but still traditional, sexy, but appropriate, comfy, but still… perfect.

“Oh my god.” She whispered, running her hands over the lace bodice. With capped sleeves, a V-shaped neckline that showed off just the right amount of cleavage, it was made up of hundreds of layers of lace and chiffon. Alex’s favourite part of it though, was the colour. The white top half of the dress, gently darkened into a light-mid grey at the bottom, which would match their colour scheme perfectly. “It’s… perfect. I love it.”

Everyone cheered as Alex finally decided on a dress, but stopped abruptly when Cath asked Alex to clarify her wedding theme and colours, smiling again when Alex confirmed what she had thought, it was a winter wonderland themed wedding with a grey/silver and navy blue colour scheme.

“Stay there for a minute, I think I have something else out the back that I think you will love. I won’t be a minute.” She said, dashing out the back. Cath returned 10 minutes later, holding another dress bag in her hands as all of the women continued delighting in Alex’s dress. “I don’t know if you’ll think it necessary, or would have even thought about it, but with winter weddings, a common problem is the weather. Wedding dresses aren’t usually the most covering of clothes, and brides do get cold, so a lot of them opt for a fur stole or pashmina, something like that. One thing that a few brides go for, is a cloak. I saw this one a while ago, and think it will go perfectly with what you have planned.”

She unzipped the bag after hanging it on the rail, revealing a navy blue cloak with a white fur lined hood. Alex smiled brightly as she saw it, agreeing to try it on over her dress. 

“I feel like Santa’s wife!” Alex laughed, but inside loving the cloak. “But I love it!”

Luckily for Alex, everyone else loved it too, and it went perfectly with a pair of dark blue, glittery high heels that Alex had had her eye on for months, so it gave her an excuse to finally buy them too.

Alex left the shop with her family and friends, her arm tight around Salome’s shoulders. It felt like a weight had been lifted, finally having her wedding dress sorted. A few alterations needed to be made to it, and she had to go back for another fitting nearer to the wedding, but everything was finally falling into place.

Both of his girls were exhausted when they eventually made it back home that evening, collapsing in a heap on the sofa, leaving Matt to go and make them both a cup of tea and order dinner in. 

As Alex had a shower an hour later, Matt sidled up to Salome on the sofa, his arm around her waist, pulling her into him.

“So, what’s the dress like?” He asked quietly.

He laughed when Salome hit him lightly on the chest, so much like her mother would do. “I can’t tell you Matty!”

“Even if I promise you can have all the ice cream and sweets you want for the next week, and I’ll pay for all of them?”

“Nope! I’ll tell you one thing though. Just one, tiny, minuscule detail.” She teased, standing up and heading to the living room door. “When you see Mum at the end of the aisle, you won’t know what’s hit you. She will be the most beautiful woman you have ever seen in your whole life.”

Alex walked in behind Salome, kissing her head briefly before looking up at Matt and smiling.

“She already is poppet. She already is.”

**22nd January 2040**

**“From the minute I saw you try that dress on, I knew I wanted a wedding dress that made me look the same.” Salome told everyone. “I don’t know what it was, I mean the dress was beautiful, and you are beautiful too, but there was just something… I hate to say it because Rose will love it, but there was something magical about that dress and how you carried it off.”**

**Everyone turned their heads to gape at Salome.**

**“You looked gorgeous on your wedding day.” They all shouted at once.**

**“Thank you, but I wasn’t fishing for compliments, but there was though, there really was something inexplicable about you and that dress. Something I don’t think any of us would ever be able to recreate.”**

**Everyone in the room agreed with Salome, Alex really had been unspeakably gorgeous that day.**

**“Well, thank you, honey. Don’t forget though, it’s your fault that I nearly didn’t fit into my dress missy!” Alex moaned, pointing at her eldest daughter. “You are the one that made me stuff my face full of food at my hen do, one week before our wedding!”**

**Salome giggled under her breath, remembering her mother’s hen do fondly. “Well, what else did you expect? You let a 12 year old plan your hen do!”**

**The room erupted into laughter as Alex settled down, thinking how best to explain her decision to let her, at the time 12 year old daughter, be her maid of honour, and therefore, be in charge of her hen do.**


	12. Too little time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So, I knew about the proposal, and I know when your wedding anniversary is… did you really plan your wedding in what? 5 months?” Rose asked curiously to Lucy’s amazement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah... I really need to update more often....

**22nd January 2040**

**“Did they actually film it then?” James asked, in awe of Matt’s elaborate proposal. From the look on Rose’s face, he would have to do something truly incredible to top that in her eyes. Zach looked a bit starstruck by his father, thinking back on his own pitiful excuse for a wedding proposal for Lucy when he noticed the longing look on her face too.**

**“They did. They did think about including it in the series 6 DVD extras, but decided against it in the end, just releasing a whole load of stills instead on our behalf.” Matt answered.**

**“They even got the photographer on set to take some photo’s of us. The one on the table over there is what was released as our official engagement photo, it was our favourite.” Alex added.**

**James, Mark and Lucy headed over to the photos, and Mark quickly spotted the photo they were talking about, hidden among the sea of photos of all of the children. Rose and Zach already knew the story, they had watched the video of their father proposing many times, Rose especially. The photo had never been noticed by the others though.**

**In it, Alex had taken her ring off, and placed it back in the box, which was propped up on the Tardis console, slightly off centre but in focus in the shot, with Matt and Alex kissing each other behind it, a bit blurred but clearly embracing each other tightly. His hand was just visible at the back of her head, the other pulling her lower body close as Alex clung to Matt’s biceps like they were a lifeguard.**

**“That is impressive. Shame your romantic skills didn’t pass on to your son, eh?” Lucy commented, shooting Zach a withering look, much to his embarrassment.**

**James made a mental note that when the time came, he should go all out with his proposal. He’d need something romantic, public, and meaningful, but not too much. It was certain that he would ask Matt for his advice, he was obviously a romantic and knew Rose better than anyone, but maybe asking wouldn’t be for the best. He didn’t want Matt thinking he was incapable. The thoughts about proposing had only just started though, he had a little while to think about it yet, there was no rush – they certainly couldn’t afford to get married any time soon.**

**“So, I knew about the proposal, and I know when your wedding anniversary is… did you really plan your wedding in what? 5 months?” Rose asked curiously to Lucy’s amazement.**

**“5 months? That’s incredible! How? Why?” She asked.**

**“It’s simple.” Alex answered, looking at Matt before he spoke too.**

**“We couldn’t wait any longer before we were married.”**

5th September 2011

Alex was slowly starting to realise that maybe they hadn’t taken on a bit more than they could chew this time. Both of them wanted to be married, to be able to properly start their life together, but Matt had been determined that he wanted a winter wonderland themed wedding, and he didn’t want to wait until the following Christmas to get hitched. So, they were left with just 5 months to plan what Matt was planning on being quite an extravagant wedding. Although Alex would have been happy with a simple registry office wedding with just their nearest and dearest in attendance, part of her loved the idea of a themed wedding (as long as it wasn’t tacky – she’d drawn the line at having Santa arrive at the reception) and the knowledge that both Matt and Salome were so eager to help with the planning of it.

During the break in filming, Alex and Matt had managed to organise and book a lot of the necessary things for their wedding. The date had been set for December 23rd, the venue had been booked, a gorgeous manor house in Bristol, along with a hotel nearby for themselves and their guests to stay in that night. The colour scheme of silver and navy blue (Tardis blue as Matt kept insisting) was coming together, and Matt was bragging constantly that him and the groomsmen were all suited and booted. Even the bridesmaids had their dresses, along with a different dress picked especially for Salome as the maid of honour. The only major thing left to organise… and Alex had to admit it was quite a major part of the wedding… was her dress.

Now, Alex was in the middle of the bridal shop, standing in a sea of lace, organza, silk and chiffon, surrounded by her daughter, bridesmaids, Nicola, Karen, Laura and Jen, plus both her mum and Matt’s, at a complete loss of where to start looking.

As a little girl, Alex had pictured her wedding, but had never been able to decide what style dress she wanted. Over the years, she had pictured herself wearing every style possible, from slinky, tight, form-fitting numbers that accentuated all of her curves to looser styles, from mermaid tails to big, puffy marshmallow looking dresses, from sweetheart necklines to daring backless dresses. Among all of the different thoughts, Alex had always held tight to the knowledge that she would know the dress she wanted when she saw it. Over the last month, she had looked online, and in more shop windows than she thought possible, and not a single dress had jumped out at her.

As the day wore on, Alex grew more and more despondent, the thought that she may never find the perfect dress horrified her, yet was becoming a strong possibility. She didn’t want to walk down the aisle in a dress she didn’t think was perfect, even though she knew she could walk down there wearing a potato sack and Matt would still declare her the most beautiful woman ever. For as long as she could remember, Alex had always gotten annoyed when women complained about not being able to find the perfect dress, having always thought that what you wore wasn’t important, the wedding was about the wedding and groom (and in her case daughter as well) joining together in all respects and becoming their own family, but now, she knew just how important her dress was.

The first one she had tried on was removed before the store assistant had even finished lacing it up. The ball gown was, in Alex’s opinion, wider than she was tall, much to everyone’s amusement, with Salome declaring that she looked like a meringue. 

The second one was completely different. As Alex hadn’t liked the ball gown style at all, this time she opted for something completely different, and went for a tight, form fitting, halterneck dress, with a lace bust and no back. Everyone liked it aside from Alex. It accentuated all of her curves, but wasn’t very easy to walk in, and with the backless style, there was no doubt that Alex would get cold having a winter wedding.

Next up was a vast improvement on the previous dresses. With long lace sleeves, with was very reminiscent of the dress Kate Middleton has worn to her wedding. It was lovely, and everyone agreed that it made Alex look gorgeous, but there was just something about it that she wasn’t happy with. As she knocked back the remains of her champagne and asked for another glass, Alex insisted that they carry on looking.

The knee length, prom style dress wasn’t suitable, others made her look fat or frumpy (In her opinion at least), didn’t flatter her figure enough or flattered it a bit too much (There would be children at the wedding, and fans and members of the public would probably see photos too – it had to be appropriate and not show too much skin). Alex had just about given up all hope, when the store assistant, Cath, brought out a dress that she thought Alex might like. It combined, from what she could see, all of the different bits of dresses that Alex had liked, with an added twist, the only thing the assistant would say, was that Alex couldn’t see it until she was wearing it, and neither could anyone else.

Cath closed the curtain around Alex, passing her an old shred of silk to wrap around her eyes, before slipping out and bringing in the dress. As she stepped into it with help from another assistant, Alex was filled with dread about the dress, would sort of thing would it be if she wasn’t allowed to see it yet, and why wasn’t she allowed to? It felt lacy, had a ‘bit of pouff’ in the skirt as Salome had been describing the dresses, and had small capped sleeves from what Alex could feel. It was light, and even quite comfortable as they laced up the dress from behind. 

Slowly, Cath pulled back the curtain, after telling everyone in the room to close their eyes. They guided Alex into the middle of the room, and she gently bit her lower lip, still blindfolded as her family and friends were told that they could open their eyes. 

All Alex could hear were gasps as the blindfold was slipped off from around her eyes, the sight greeting her nothing but elated, tear filled faces.

“Liebling, you look stunning.” Her mum told her.

“Alex, that is beautiful.” Karen added.

All Alex could look at though, was Salome. Her cherubic little face had tears slowly rolling down her cheeks, but her smile was brighter than the sun. She seemed incapable of speaking, merely nodding her head as fast as she could.

“That’s it Mum, that’s the dress!” She finally managed to squeak, running up and hugging Alex close. “You look so beautiful.”

“Matt will really love that dress Lex, you have to get it.” Her sister agreed. 

“Well, I guess I should have a look at it then.” Alex answered, having not looked down at the dress so far. 

Salome pealed her arms away from Alex so she could turn and look in the mirror, gasping when she saw the dress. It was different, but still traditional, sexy, but appropriate, comfy, but still… perfect.

“Oh my god.” She whispered, running her hands over the lace bodice. With capped sleeves, a V-shaped neckline that showed off just the right amount of cleavage, it was made up of hundreds of layers of lace and chiffon. Alex’s favourite part of it though, was the colour. The white top half of the dress, gently darkened into a light-mid grey at the bottom, which would match their colour scheme perfectly. “It’s… perfect. I love it.”

Everyone cheered as Alex finally decided on a dress, but stopped abruptly when Cath asked Alex to clarify her wedding theme and colours, smiling again when Alex confirmed what she had thought, it was a winter wonderland themed wedding with a grey/silver and navy blue colour scheme.

“Stay there for a minute, I think I have something else out the back that I think you will love. I won’t be a minute.” She said, dashing out the back. Cath returned 10 minutes later, holding another dress bag in her hands as all of the women continued delighting in Alex’s dress. “I don’t know if you’ll think it necessary, or would have even thought about it, but with winter weddings, a common problem is the weather. Wedding dresses aren’t usually the most covering of clothes, and brides do get cold, so a lot of them opt for a fur stole or pashmina, something like that. One thing that a few brides go for, is a cloak. I saw this one a while ago, and think it will go perfectly with what you have planned.”

She unzipped the bag after hanging it on the rail, revealing a navy blue cloak with a white fur lined hood. Alex smiled brightly as she saw it, agreeing to try it on over her dress. 

“I feel like Santa’s wife!” Alex laughed, but inside loving the cloak. “But I love it!”

Luckily for Alex, everyone else loved it too, and it went perfectly with a pair of dark blue, glittery high heels that Alex had had her eye on for months, so it gave her an excuse to finally buy them too.

Alex left the shop with her family and friends, her arm tight around Salome’s shoulders. It felt like a weight had been lifted, finally having her wedding dress sorted. A few alterations needed to be made to it, and she had to go back for another fitting nearer to the wedding, but everything was finally falling into place.

Both of his girls were exhausted when they eventually made it back home that evening, collapsing in a heap on the sofa, leaving Matt to go and make them both a cup of tea and order dinner in. 

As Alex had a shower an hour later, Matt sidled up to Salome on the sofa, his arm around her waist, pulling her into him.

“So, what’s the dress like?” He asked quietly.

He laughed when Salome hit him lightly on the chest, so much like her mother would do. “I can’t tell you Matty!”

“Even if I promise you can have all the ice cream and sweets you want for the next week, and I’ll pay for all of them?”

“Nope! I’ll tell you one thing though. Just one, tiny, minuscule detail.” She teased, standing up and heading to the living room door. “When you see Mum at the end of the aisle, you won’t know what’s hit you. She will be the most beautiful woman you have ever seen in your whole life.”

Alex walked in behind Salome, kissing her head briefly before looking up at Matt and smiling.

“She already is poppet. She already is.”


	13. Bachelorette

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The room erupted into laughter as Alex settled down, thinking how best to explain her decision to let her, at the time 12 year old daughter, be her maid of honour, and therefore, be in charge of her hen do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally found the time to update!! Between having issues with my laptop, my AO3 account and just generally being really busy recently, I haven't had the time to post the next chapter. But here we are, I hope someone at least is still reading, enjoy and as usual, let me know your thoughts!!!! xxxx

**22nd January 2040**

**“From the minute I saw you try that dress on, I knew I wanted a wedding dress that made me look the same.” Salome told everyone. “I don’t know what it was, I mean the dress was beautiful, and you are beautiful too, but there was just something… I hate to say it because Rose will love it, but there was something magical about that dress and how you carried it off.”**

**Everyone turned their heads to gape at Salome.**

**“You looked gorgeous on your wedding day.” They all shouted at once.**

**“Thank you, but I wasn’t fishing for compliments, but there was though, there really was something inexplicable about you and that dress. Something I don’t think any of us would ever be able to recreate.”**

**Everyone in the room agreed with Salome, Alex really had been unspeakably gorgeous that day.**

**“Well, thank you, honey. Don’t forget though, it’s your fault that I nearly didn’t fit into my dress missy!” Alex moaned, pointing at her eldest daughter. “You are the one that made me stuff my face full of food at my hen do, one week before our wedding!”**

**Salome giggled under her breath, remembering her mother’s hen do fondly. “Well, what else did you expect? You let a 12 year old plan your hen do!”**

**The room erupted into laughter as Alex settled down, thinking how best to explain her decision to let her, at the time 12 year old daughter, be her maid of honour, and therefore, be in charge of her hen do.**

17th December 2011

Alex woke up early in the morning, like she usually did, to Matt kissing her neck, waking her gently in the way he knew she loved. If he was lucky, he might even even a little more than a morning snog out of it, it wasn’t as though he would be getting any that night. He knew that in 12 hours time, he would be drunk out of his mind, no doubt being gaffer taped to a lamp post in the middle of nowhere without his phone or wallet, Matt was seriously starting to regret letting Arthur be his best man in charge of his stag.

“Is the poppet all ready for tonight, beautiful?” He asked quietly after he had made love to his fiancée as the sun rose over their house in Oxford, laying on his stomach with his arms crossed over her toned stomach.

“God knows! I haven’t been told anything. When I said she could be my maid of honour and be involved in the hen do, I didn’t mean plan all of it by herself! My symbolic final night of freedom is going to be spent watching disney movies, I know it! Why did I let this happen? More importantly, why did you let this happen? You gave her the money!” Alex moaned, throwing her head back into the pillows. 

“Don’t worry, you and your friends will have a lovely time, and she’s got to go to sleep at some point, so you can have a few drinks then!”

Alex grumbled, something along the lines of he was right. The girl had to go to sleep at some point, although thinking about it, it had been a very long time since Alex had last pulled an all nighter, she wasn’t sure she could hack it any more.

“Just think, sweetheart. This time next week, we will be laying in bed like this, but we will be married. You will be Alexandra Smith.”

“I like the sound of that, Alexandra Smith.” She replied, toying with the sound of her new name. “And Salome Smith of course, if you still want to adopt her after that is?”

Matt just smiled up at Alex sweetly, leaning up to kiss her. His kiss told her all she needed to know, that he would still be honoured to have Salome as his daughter, and to have her take his name too.

By mid afternoon, Alex had left Salome at home alone for a little while as she drove Matt to the train station, for him to head into London for his stag do before she returned to the house for her hen do. She left Matt on the station platform as his train pulled in. 

“I’m going to miss you. Have fun, don’t get into too much trouble, please don’t get arrested or photographed falling out of too many clubs and if you go to a strip club, don’t enjoy it too much, because I could do a much classier job.” She told him, leaving him with a final searing kiss with her arms pulling close.

“I promise, beautiful. You’re the only one I want, remember that! Have fun, I’ll see you at some point tomorrow. I love you.” Matt answered, giving Alex a quick squeeze before jumping on the train.

“Love you too.” Alex shouted as the doors closed. They both blew each other a kiss through the doors, with Alex left standing on the platform alone as the train pulled away. She didn’t have time to hang around though, she had to get back to her daughter, and get her own party started.

When she called out to Salome that she was home, dropping her keys onto the sideboard in the hallway, Salome popped her head out of the living room door instantly, insisting that Alex not come in, and instead should go upstairs and get ready, with strict instructions to wear what had been left on her bed.

On her bed, was a red, retro style tea dress, covered in tiny white polka dots. Next to the dress were the red ‘fuck me’ shoes she had worn the first time she had filmed with Matt, a pair of over sized novelty sunglasses with the words ‘bride to be’ stuck to the top, that would rest over her forehead. Her eyes were drawn though to the ditsy, floral print sash laying over the dress. ‘Future Mrs Smith’ had been embroidered onto it in large, swirly black letters, making Alex laugh. Future Mrs Smith, just those words made her giddy with excitement, the following weekend couldn’t come quick enough.

45 minutes later, Alex was adjusting the sash around her body, fluffing her hair a little more, and applying just a tad more lipstick. Even though it wasn’t a ‘proper’ hen do, it didn’t mean Alex couldn’t make an effort, her friends and family, as well as some of Salome’s friends, were coming round, and no doubt would take hundreds of photos between them.

“Mum! You look amazing!” Salome exclaimed, pushing open her mum’s bedroom door slowly. 

“So do you honey! That dress is lovely, did Matt buy it for you?” Alex asked, admiring her daughters dress, similar in style to her own, but white with larger red polka dots, and matching red, glittery pumps, and her own floral sash, declaring her the maid of honour.

Salome told her that he had, having given her a budget for the party that evening, to include clothes, accessories and food. Matt had gone out and brought and brought a few bottles of prosecco for the women for later in the evening.

“You look so grown up.” Alex commented sadly, her little girl no longer quite so little. “Seeing as you are my maid of honour, and have planned my party, how about I put a little make up on you too?”

Salome squealed with delight, not usually allowed to wear it. For the 30 minutes that Salome was sat at Alex’s dressing table, having her mum do her hair and make up for her, both of them were happy, just having a little quiet, quality time with each other.

The other hen’s started arriving a little while later, having been pre warned not to expect too much as Salome had planned the party, but they were all surprised. The living room had been decorated, covered in banners and balloons in different shades of pink and white, the words ‘hen party’, ‘bride to be’ and ‘future Mrs Smith’ written on everything much to Alex’s amusement.

They didn’t have long to hang around though, because as soon as the final guests arrived, they were all bundled into a mini bus and driven off into the middle of Oxford, Alex still clueless about where they were heading, although everyone else seemed to know.

With all of the women wearing hen party sash’s, and Alex wearing her own special sash and drivers L plates, they were led by Salome and Nicola into an Indian restaurant where they managed to make a fuss and drink for a few hours. Alex was incredibly grateful for both her mum and Matt’s being there, saying they wouldn’t be drinking to keep an eye on the younger girls so the real hen’s could still have a good time. 

Sadly, a few of the women, and some of the younger ones, had to go home after their meal, but those still standing made their way back to Alex’s house. Once they had arrived, all high heels were kicked off, and Salome ran into the kitchen, coming back with several tubs of chocolates and sweets, the prosecco Matt had brought for them (along with a couple of bottles of sparkling fruit juice for the girls to enjoy), and a box full to the brim with face masks and various bits and pieces needed for manicures, and a few dvd’s on top. It seemed the plan for the rest of the evening was for a good old fashioned girls night.

Within half an hour, prosecco was flowing, Dirty Dancing was playing on the tv, face masks were drying and they were all doing each other’s nails, among the laughter and giggles that usually accompanied a hen night. 

Just before midnight, once the last of Salome’s friends had left and the girl had gone to bed herself, the women started drinking harder, pulling out all of their gifts for Alex, including various sex toys to her embarrassment. Alex used all of her acting skills to look embarrassed by what they were, when in fact she was looking forward to trying them all out with Matt. She would have told her friends that had her mum and Matt’s not been in the room with them.

By 4am, everyone had left, leaving a pleasantly drunk Alex to stumble upstairs to bed. Her dress had just hit the floor, leaving her in nothing but her deep purple, silk thong and bra, when had attention was caught by a knock at her front door. Knowing it wasn’t safe, Alex ignored it, but whoever it was, was persistent. Wrapping a short, silky robe around her body, Alex padded her way downstairs, her phone clutched tightly in one hand, as she opened the door slightly, leaving the chain on.

“Oh my god!” Alex laughed, when she saw the sight in front of her.


	14. Batchelor Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “That’s not how it works.”
> 
> “Yeah, it is!” Arthur joked

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really need to write/upload more, but life is busy and I forget!! 
> 
> Let me know what you think!

**22nd January 2040**

**“I’m sorry I got so controlling over wanting to plan your party Mum.” Salome apologised. “It was only when I had my own that I realised how much I screwed yours up.”**

**Alex shuffled over the living room, picking her granddaughter up and sitting her on her lap, and wrapping an arm around Salome.**

**“I had a really good time actually. I will admit, I did have my reservations, but it was kind of perfect really. Where I had you so young, I had never really been one for going out clubbing at all hours, stumbling home at 4am with only one shoe and mumbling incoherently, unlike some people I can name, Matthew!”**

17th December 2011

Matt had been regretting this for a few days, but now that he was on the train on his way into London, he was really starting to have second thoughts about what the boys might have planned for his stag. Those doubts doubled when he arrived at Arthur’s flat and had a t-shirt thrust into his hand with orders to put it on.

“Really?” Matt asked, looking down at the t-shirt bearing the words ‘Future Mr Kingston’ on the front and back that he was now wearing over the top of the long sleeve t-shirt he wore. “That’s not how it works.”

“Yeah, it is!” Arthur joked, much to Steven’s pleasure on the sofa.

“Quoting my own words boys, I must be doing a good job!” He mused to himself. “Now that the condemned man has arrived, let’s head out then, I believe we are meeting the rest of the lads at the first pub.”

They were working their way through the Monopoly board game pub crawl, visiting one pub on each of the streets featured on the London Monopoly board. 26 pubs later (They didn’t include the electricity company or waterworks!), they were all suitably pissed at 2.30am. Most of the pubs had been very quick stops just for a shot, before heading off to the next one. There was something, disconcerting about the next club they were visiting though. The neon lights outside, and the scantily clad girls put Matt on edge.

“Strippers!” All of the boys cheered, settling down in chairs along by the stage, wooping for joy at the young women prancing about in perilously high heels and not many clothes.

“I don’t- I don’t feel comfortable here.” Matt admitted quietly to Arthur, hoping he would be able to sneak off and head back to Arthur’s for the night.

“Get over yourself, mate. This is the last time you can come out and ogle beautiful women, make the most of it. Alex won’t mind, now get that down you, and I am going to chat to one of the girls, see about getting some lap dances.” Arthur replied, bolting off towards the stage.

“I don’t want to ogle beautiful women though. I’ve got the most beautiful at home.” It was true, the women in there looked cheap and tacky, and Matt felt sorry for them, having to parade themselves in front of leering men everyday to earn their wages. Why would he want to be with one of them, when he had a gorgeous, classy girl like Alex at home waiting for him?

Before he knew it, Matt was being dragged to the stage, being dragged up onto it, and plonked on a chair, the women around him telling all of the punters that he was the stag, and how he was going to have some fun before he was tied down forever. One of the women with long, straight blonde hair, wiggled her hips seductively in front of him, as her colleague, slid her hand over his chest from behind. It was too much, Matt didn’t want this. When he caught sight of the rope in the girls hand, the intent to tie him down to the chair evident, Matt stood up suddenly and ran off stage, mumbling to everyone that he was sorry.

His bag was still at Arthur’s flat, but Matt didn’t care, all he wanted was to get home to his fiancée. He jumped into the first cab, seeing Arthur run out of the club just after, looking for Matt confused, finding only his trainer on the path.

It was 4am by the time Matt made it home. Luckily, he still had his phone and wallet on him, so he could pay the cabbie, but didn’t have his keys, so settled for pounding on the front door in the hopes that Alex or Salome would hear him. The door creaked open slowly after 10 minutes knocking, and Matt slumped against the wall.

“Oh my god!” He heard Alex laugh.

“Lexi! My beautiful Lexi.” He shouted, leaning forward into her waiting arms. “I fucking love you, did you know that?”

“I did sweetie, how much have you had to drink? And where the hell is your other shoe?” Alex asked, trying her best to remember this for the morning so she could tease him.

“Somewhere… I don’t know.” Matt grumbled as Alex helped him up the stairs, reminding him to be quiet so he didn’t wake Salome.

She sat him down on the chair for her dressing table, bending down to pull off his remaining trainer and socks, laughing softly at the way his hand instantly reached out to pat her head, mumbling how much he loved her ‘fucking glorious curls’ and how her ‘pretty lips felt so good wrapped around his cock’. Alex loved all of the forms that Matt took, whether it was his overly romantic and sensitive side, or whether he was acting all angry, but one of her favourites she had learnt quite quickly, was drunk Matt. Drunk Matt meant honest Matt. It had been when he was drunk that he first admitted his fears to her over becoming the Doctor and how his interpretation might be taken, and after that, he always spoke the truth when he was drunk.

“So, did you have a good time honey?”

“They took me to a strip club Lex… a fucking strip club, full of pervy old men and stag parties, and girls not wearing any clothes. They got me on stage, and one girl had her hands under my shirt, and the other was about to tie me down and I couldn’t Lexi, all I could think was why would I want some girl like that dancing and stripping for me, when I have someone as fucking gorgeous as you.” He slurred, his hands reaching out to cup her cheeks, making contact after missing a couple of times. “There is only one pair of hands I ever want on my skin again, and they are yours. I ran, lost my trainer somehow as I did. Got in the first cab and came home to you.”

“So… you left before you got your lap dance?” Matt nodded his head, his jeans tightening at the devilish smirk on Alex’s face when she realised. “It’s your stag night sweetheart, you shouldn’t go without.” She said, standing up straight, pulling a thin scarf from her cupboard and slipping her black stiletto’s on. Gently, Alex tugged Matt’s hands behind him, tying them up with her scarf so he couldn’t escape. With slow, sensual music playing from her phone, Alex stood seductively in front of Matt, swaying her hips to the beat of the music. As her arms reached above her head, the wide sleeves of her red robe fell down around her shoulders, the bottom of the robe rising to show of her legs, but just covering her bottom. She slid her hands down her body, pulling gently on the silk around her breasts as she leant forward, giving Matt a good view of her cleavage. Her dainty hands, now with painted blood red nails, wrapping around the bottom hem, teasing Matt by pulling it up higher, turning to give him a brief glimpse of her backside before dropping it again, hearing him groan in frustration.

Her hands moved back to her body, writhing over her stomach and waist, inching higher to cup her breasts before sliding back down, deftly undoing the knot holding her robe closed, but making sure it didn’t open too soon. With hips moving quicker, Alex made her way closer to Matt, whipping the cord from her robe before shrugging it off of her shoulders, using the cord to wrap around his neck, pulling his head closer until it was buried between her breasts, holding him close as he nipped and kissed his way across them both and down the valley between them. Alex pushed each strap off of her shoulder, and reached round behind her, unclasping her bra and letting it fall down into Matt’s lap, slinking back out of his reach. She span around on the spot, bending down so her bum was right in his face before straightening up, wriggling seductively, then hooking her thumbs under the waistband of her knickers, pulling them down her long, toned legs painfully slowly, before kicking them across the room, followed by her heels. Slowly, Alex walked back to Matt, untying his hands and letting them roam across her body, leading him to bed with her. 

By the time Alex had got Matt laying down, helping him out of his jeans and t-shirts, he was fast asleep. The shirt he had obviously been made to wear made her giggle, and she resolved to show Matt her sash. Rather than shagging him blind like she had hoped would happen, instead Alex curled up next to him, pulling the duvet over the both of them, hoping that their hangovers wouldn’t be too bad.


	15. Wedding Bells

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marriage is a sacred, beloved bond between man and wife -”
> 
> “Sorry!” Matt said suddenly. “Can I just interrupt there? I just, I can’t do this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah... So I meant to upload this sooner, but with Christmas, and illness, and my laptop not working, and my depression being really bad, and work being utter hell on Earth... I've only just remembered! Sorry!!!!!
> 
> Someone remind me to update again soon?
> 
> Anyway, here it is... The WEDDING!!!!!!!!!!!

**22nd January 2040**

**“You have no idea how much Arthur took the piss out of me over losing my shoe like that! Have you ever heard him or any of the other lads call me ‘Cinders’? That’s why, because I ran off from the party and left my shoe!” Matt sheepishly admitted, much to the amusement of his children. Over the years, their father’s nickname had always confused them, but they had never known why he had been called ‘Cinders’ but now it made sense.**

**“I am not doing that on my stag do!” Zach told him firmly. “I was thinking a piss up in Amsterdam actually.”**

**Lucy rolled her eyes next to him, rubbing her hand over her stomach. “Don’t forget though, that we will have a baby then, we can’t go affording a massive wedding, or week long piss up in Amsterdam!”**

**Alex laughed at her son and his fiancée as she stood up, walking over to the table full of photo frames, plucking her favourite wedding photo up and looking at it fondly. Only the back of Alex could be seen, the focus of the photo was Matt. It had been taken as Alex walked down the aisle, and the photographer had perfectly caught forever the moment Matt had seen Alex in her dress for the first time, walking down the aisle to become his wife. His hand was clapped over his mouth, but it couldn’t hide the smile, and his eyes shone with love, happiness and a few unshed tears. In the wedding album, there was a matching photo, taken from the other end of the aisle, of Alex walking down, smiling brighter than she had ever done, clutching her bouquet in one hand, and her fathers arm with the other, but the one of Matt had always been her favourite.**

**“That photo doesn’t do my emotions justice.” Matt whispered, having sneaked up behind Alex and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her back to his chest. “I’ll never be able to express just how happy I was when I saw you at the end of the aisle. Sal’s right, there was something magical about how you looked, seeing those blue glittery shoes poking out as you glided towards me. It was almost… ethereal. It felt like all of my christmas’s, brithday’s, anniversaries, Easter’s, everything, all came at once, knowing that within the hour, you were going to be my wife.”**

**Alex put the photo back down, and turned in her husbands arms, kissing him lightly on the lips before guiding him back to the sofa, holding his hand tightly in hers.**

**“It was an amazing day honey.” She told them all. “The night wasn’t so bad either….”**

**“It was so hard leaving you though, even though I knew that in just 24 hours time, we would be having the time of our lives at our wedding reception!”**

22nd December 2011

There were a lot of things that could be said for Alex, and Matt for that matter. Being traditional wasn’t usually one of them, but this was something both of them wanted to do, no matter how hard they might find it.

They had driven down to the Leigh Court in Bristol the day before their wedding, and helped to set up the venue for the reception, making sure everything was to their liking, before they held their rehearsal dinner.

By 9pm, everything was done, and it was time for them all to head to bed so they could have an early night ahead of a busy day tomorrow.

Matt was staying in one hotel room, a couple of room down from where Alex was staying in the same room as Salome. They reached Alex’s room first, and she let her daughter in, turning back and closing the door to say goodbye to Matt.

“This is it then!” He said, bouncing on the balls of his feet excitedly. “Next time I see you will be at the end of the aisle.”

“It will be.” Alex said, running her hands down Matt’s chest. “I’m going to miss you tonight.”

Matt chuckled softly. “So will I, I don’t sleep as well without you there next to me.”

“It’s only one night, then tomorrow night, I’ll be Mrs Smith, and I might just have something special planned for you.” Alex told him teasingly. “So, be a good boy, don’t go back down to the bar, go to bed, get a good night’s sleep, I think you’ll need it tomorrow night.”

“I might have something special planned for tomorrow as well. Give Salome a kiss goodnight for me, and don’t forget that I love you both more than anything.”

“We both love you too. I’ll see you at the altar. Don’t be late.” Alex warned, winding her arms around Matt’s neck and pulling him down for a kiss, their last before their wedding.

They broke apart a minute late, and gave each other one last tight hug and peck on the lips, whispering their love for each other again before Alex reopened her door and prepared to spend her last night as a single woman.

By the time she got in there, Salome was already in her pyjamas, wearing a t-shirt Alex had made especially for her, with maid of honour written on it.

Alex washed her face and got her own pyjamas on, climbing into the double bed, next to Salome in the single bed beside her. With her head propped up on her hand, Alex patted the space beside her, urging Salome to climb in and join her.

“One last time, eh? Just us two Kingston girls.” She said, snuggling up to her daughter. “So, are you ok about tomorrow?”

“I’m a bit nervous about everyone watching me walk down the aisle, I don’t want to fall over, but as soon as they see you, then they will stop looking at me.”

“You shouldn’t be nervous, sweetheart, but that isn’t what I meant. Are you happy with me and Matt getting married? Do you understand what that means?”

“It won’t change things that much, will it? We already live together. Your name will change, and I want mine to change too, and I know Matt wants that.” Salome answered sincerely, her answer being met with a kiss on the head from Alex.

“Do you understand though, that when we are married, things might change. It won’t just be the two of us anymore. Matt will be about all the time when he isn’t filming, and we might… we might decide to have a baby? Would you be ok with that?”

Salome sprang up in bed, and wrapped her arms around Alex tightly, and kissed her cheek. “I’d love it if you had a baby. My very own little brother or sister!” She giggled excitedly. “I hope you have a baby soon.”

Alex smiled at her daughters excitement of the possibility of their family expanding. “You will be an amazing big sister Salsa.”

They fell asleep, holding each other tightly, dreaming of what the future would have in store for them both.

23rd December 2011

Alex was woken up at what felt like the crack of dawn to a pounding on her door, waking her and her daughter.

“Seriously? It’s 7am! The wedding isn’t for another 8 hours yet.” She grumbled, opening the door to reveal her wedding party, all with happy, excited, smiling faces while she still had sleep in her eyes. “What the hell?”

“It’s your wedding day!” They all squealed. Alex was pushed back into the room, her hair thrown up into a messy pony tail and the nearest pair of clothes thrown in her direction, with instructions to get dressed quickly so they could go downstairs and have breakfast before Matt woke up.

By the time Alex was back in her room an hour later, she wasn’t sure what was going on. For the next 6 hours, the room was a flurry of activity. Dresses were thrown all over the place, nails were painted and there was a queue to have their make up and hair done by two of the make up artists and hairdressers from the studios. As soon as they had learnt about the wedding, they offered their services as a present, followed soon after by offers from the camera men and photographers as well. All of the offers of help had touched Alex and Matt, knowing they meant so much to their colleagues meant a lot to them.

Alex took a few minutes to herself just after 2.30pm, hiding in the toilet for a while to calm herself. She hadn’t been nervous at all, but now, about to leave and walk downstairs to the ceremony, her nerves had finally got the better of her. With the Tardis blue cloak wrapped around her shoulder, her bouquet of blue and white roses, interspersed with silver glittery sprigs and pine cones, and sparkling white pearls, and a sparkling clip holding back a little bit of her hair, Alex sat down on the edge of the bath, willing herself not to cry. She wasn’t getting cold feet, she knew that, she wanted to marry Matt, more than anything, but it was the enormity of everything, along with all of the usual Christmas stresses. She was getting married! There had been many years after having Salome when she thought that she would never be in this position, it seemed there weren’t many men who wanted to take on a stepdaughter, especially one born to a woman so young at the time, yet she had found someone who was not only willing to take the pair of them on, but to also help her raise Salome as if she were his own. There wasn’t a shadow of doubt in Alex’s mind, that Matt didn’t love Salome with everything he had. If they ever had a baby, she knew Matt would love Salome just as much as he would his own biological child, and that was a thought that thrilled her. Who knew where they would be in a year or two? Maybe she would have the perfect family that she had dreamt of as a little girl.

She stood up, double checking herself in the mirror and straightening out her dress while letting out a deep breath. Alex wasn’t vain, but she had to admit, she did look good today, she knew that Matt would love how she looked. With a shaking hand, Alex opened the bathroom door with a smile, watching her father’s face light up on the other side.

“Look at you, my little girl is all grown up!” Her father exclaimed, wrapping his arms around Alex tightly. “You look beautiful, Alex. Matt is a very lucky man.”

“Thank you Daddy.” She whispered, hoping she wouldn’t cry again. “Come on then, let’s get me married before Matt thinks I’ve jilted him!”

The walk down through the hotel felt like it took forever, the corridors seeming to stretch on further and further the further they all walked. Following her bridesmaids, wearing navy blue halterneck maxi dresses, with a sparkly silver belt along with a small silver snowflake shaped necklace that Alex had given each of them, and Salome, who proudly carried her own bouquet of flowers, and a slightly more child friendly navy maxi dress with a large silver bow at the bottom of her back and a matching necklace, Alex felt like a real, proper bride. She just couldn’t wait to get to the end of the aisle and see Matt’s face.

Matt kept looking up to the top of the stairs, where he knew Alex would appear any minute now. It was 3pm exactly. The last 30 minutes since he had arrived to greet their guests had felt like an eternity. He was full of anticipation and excitement over seeing his fiancée, not that he would be able to call her that for much longer. Arthur tried calming him down, telling him to leave his navy ‘bow tie alone for just one minute please, for the love of god, and do not ruin your hair again’. His other groomsmen, all wearing light grey suits and navy waistcoats that matched his, tried telling him the same, as did his father, mother and Alex’s mother who had arrived a couple of minutes before, flashing him a knowing, winning smile.  
His eyes were fixed on the registrar, fiddling with their book as the music finally started, telling Matt that Alex had arrived.

He wanted to know what she looked like. He wanted to wait until she was standing next to him to see what she looked like. He wasn’t sure, for now, he kept looking forward, willing for time to speed up.

 

First, Laura, Nicola, Jen and Karen all arrived, and he whispered across to them without looking round that they all looked lovely. Then, he heard the soft tapping of Salome’s footsteps approaching him, hearing the slight click of the kitten heels she had been allowed to wear for the day. She hugged him as soon as she was close enough, telling him quietly that her mum looked even more beautiful than she had ever done before.

“I’m sure she does poppet. You look very beautiful too, a real little lady! I love your tiara!” He teased, touching her blue and silver tiara, before Salome took her place by the other bridesmaids and the bridal march began.

This was it. They were getting married. The minute Alex watched from the top of the stairs her husband to be embrace her daughter like that, she knew that this was the best decision she had ever made. She took hold of her fathers arm and looked at him with shining eyes.

“I’m ready.” She told him quietly, nodding her head slightly. As she walked down the stairs, her cloak billowed out behind her, sweeping the floor in her wake. Never before had Alex been more grateful to have things to hold in both of her hands, because otherwise she wouldn’t have known what to do with them. As she stood at the end of the aisle, a sea of proud, smiling faces looked back at her, but there was only one person that Alex was focussed on.

He heard the gasps from everyone in the room as Alex came into view, but still he didn’t turn around.

“Wow!” Arthur gasped, slapping Matt on the back. “Mate, you’ve got to turn around.”

So he did. Alex was just… breathtaking.

Matt clapped his hand over his mouth, unashamed about the jaw breaking grin on his face, and the tears brewing in his eyes. This woman, this glorious, gorgeous, mesmeric, alluring women, was going to marry him! A fairly average, incredibly clumsy, football mad bloke from Northampton. As Matt watched Alex seemingly glide closer to him, he wondered what on earth he had ever done to deserve someone so unspeakably perfect in every possible way. She was like Mary Poppins – but even more perfect.

As soon as Alex saw Matt’s reaction, she beamed even brighter. It was just the sort of reaction she had wanted from him, one of complete incredulity of her. The love and pride he must have felt was palpable, and she could feel it radiating from him in waves.

Alex passed her bouquet to Karen, as Nicola unclipped the cloak from around her neck, showing off her dress in all its wonder for the first time as her father shook Matt’s hand fiercely, and handed her over to him with a kiss to her cheek.

“I don’t know – Alex, you look… I’m speechless sweetheart. You look absolutely stunning.” Matt managed to mumble. “Really, truly stunning.”

Alex smiled up at him proudly. “You look incredibly dashing yourself sweetie.”

They both stood there in silence for a moment, before they both got the giggles at the same time, cracking up in front of the congregation. It took a moment for them to control their laughter, when they apologised to everyone. The whole idea of them getting married had suddenly seemed hilarious.

“Now that you have got yourselves under control, shall we begin?” The middle aged registrar started, nodding when Matt and Alex both told him to go ahead. “Very well then. Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the formal union of this man, and this woman. Marriage is a sacred, beloved bond between man and wife -”

“Sorry!” Matt said suddenly. “Can I just interrupt there? I just, I can’t do this.”

Alex, holding his hands tightly in her own, suddenly stopped smiling, her eyes snapping from the registrar to Matt. She felt shell shocked, a deep frown formed across her forehead.

“Matt?” She muttered sadly, her mind running wild with thoughts, but also having stopped working completely. “What are you on about?”

Matt looked up at Alex, and cupped her jaw, rubbing a thumb across her cheek. “I love you, beautiful, but there is something I need to do. I can’t do this, until I’ve done something else first, something important.”

“We are in the middle of our wedding ceremony. I’m sure it can wait half an hour!” Alex hissed.

“No, it really can’t. There is already an unbreakable bond in our house, that between mother and daughter, you and Salome. I can’t come in and break that. I could never, ever forgive myself, if Salome felt like she was nothing less than the most important person in our family. Salome, can you come here please?” Matt asked, beckoning for the girl to come closer to him, making her stand next to Alex, with a mix of emotions etched onto her face.

Alex looked between her daughter and Matt, her confusion growing deeper when Matt knelt down on one knee in front of Salome, who seemed equally confused.

“I know that I have said this to you before poppet, but I want to say it again, and make sure that you will never forget.” He said, taking her hand in one of his, and one of Alex’s in his other. “I love you and your mum more than anyone else on the planet, my very own Kingston girls. You both bring so much joy and happiness to my life. I can be in the worst mood possible, but just one quick look at both of you, and I forget about it instantly.”

Alex relaxed slightly when she realised that Matt wasn’t about to leave her at the altar, but still didn’t have a clue about what was going on.

“I know that for your whole life, it has only been you and your mum, and I know that once we are married, that will change. I don’t ever want you to think that I am taking her away from you though, because I’m not. In years to come, I don’t want you to look back on this day as the day you lost your mum, I’d like it, very much, if you looked back on this as the day you gained a father.”

Matt looked up at Alex to see tears in her eyes at the love he felt for both of them, her smile was so big and so bright. Salome looked at him happily too, which was just what he had hoped for. He shoved his hand into his pocket, and pulled out a small, navy blue, velvet box, and held it out in front of him.

“Salome Violetta, will you do me the honour of being my daughter?” He asked expectantly, opening the box to reveal the thin, diamond encrusted silver ring inside.

Salome’s eyes widened in surprise, there was Matt kneeling in front of her, just like he had done when he had proposed to her mum. She looked up at Alex, hands over her mouth in surprise, crying happily beside her before looking back at Matt and nodding her head, throwing her arms around his neck.

“Yes!” She shouted as Matt’s arms wrapped around her waist tightly. When they pulled back, Matt took Salome’s right hand, and slipped the ring onto her third finger, whispering to her that it was bad luck for her to wear it on her left.

She thrust her hand forward to show Alex, who took it and inspected the ring with tears running down her face.

Alex cupped her daughter’s cheek, wiping away the tears that she had cried, before wiping away her own. “Aren’t you a lucky girl?” She told her, looking up at Matt who stood sheepishly to the side. Alex guided her daughter to stand back with the rest of the bridesmaids before turning to Matt, who was looking incredibly proud of himself. She held the back of his head and pulled him down to her height, kissing him passionately. “I bloody love you, I love you so much, but god please don’t do that to me again, you nearly gave me a heart attack!”

“I love you too. Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you there, but it felt like something I had to do.” He apologised, kissing Alex quickly before taking her hands in his again and looking to the registrar. “I’m done, you can continue.”

The ceremony went quicker than either of them were expecting. They were both buzzing and almost burst with excitement as they each said ‘I do’. The stupid faces Matt pulled as Alex said her vows, promising to love and support him through everything until the day she died, made her giggle, and the hope on Alex’s face as he read his, made Matt want to stop the ceremony and just pounce on her in front of everyone.

They’d spent a long time picking their rings out. Matt wanted something ‘masculine’, but that matched Alex’s, and she wanted one that matched her rose gold engagement ring. Finding a men’s rose gold ring wasn’t easy, but he eventually found a thick titanium ring with a rose gold coloured band around the middle that he loved, it just looked right on his finger. Alex’s ring wasn’t easy to find either, she wanted something a bit different, and finally found a thin rose gold band with a semi circle of baguette diamonds in the centre, creating an indent in the ring. When she wore it with her rose shaped engagement ring, it sat perfectly underneath it, the indent cradling the rose with the diamonds looking like leaves. As they slid the rings down each other’s fingers, the level of emotions they both felt was incredible. It was then that it felt official to them both, they then felt married.

And then it was over. They looked at each other expectantly as the registrar wrapped things up.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife, or rather, I suppose, I now pronounce you husband, wife and daughter.” He said, gesturing to a bouncing Salome. “Go on then, kiss the bride!”

Matt needed no further encouragement. He surged forward, clutching Alex’s hip with one hand and her cheek with the other, capturing her lips in his. He kissed her until she was breathless and they felt a small pair of arms around them both, and they hugged her back, the newly formed family laughing among themselves.

“Hello husband!” Alex giggled, stroking Matt’s face while keeping a hand on Salome’s shoulder.

“Hello to you too wife, and hello daughter!”

“Hi Dad!” Salome added. “I like the sound of that… Dad.” She said, toying with the word on her lips. She’d never had anyone to call Dad before.

Matt and Alex both agreed that it sounded splendid. “Come on then Mrs and Miss Smith, shall we walk back down the aisle?” Matt asked, taking Alex’s cloak and clipping it back around her, fanning it out on the floor before taking both of their hands and heading back down the aisle to the cheers and woops of their friends and family.


	16. Time to party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m really sorry, beautiful, but you know what’s up next, don’t you?” He asked.
> 
> “Best man’s speech...” Alex groaned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! 
> 
> For some reason, I haven't been able to log in for a few weeks, but I've managed to today!
> 
> Let me know what you think, I hope someone is still reading this!

**22nd January 2040**

**“So that’s why he gave you your ring!” Rose said, Salome’s attachment to her ring now becoming clear. Even now nearly 30 years on, she wore it constantly. “You only ever used to say that Dad gave it to you on their wedding day, I didn’t know he proposed to you!”**

**“It is a little… unconventional, I guess you could say. Why did you do it?” Zach asked.**

**“Because, I wanted Salome to be my daughter. I wanted her to know that she would always be wanted, and loved, by both of us, and by any children we might have in the future, and I didn’t want there to be any confusion. I didn’t want Sal to feel conflicted in what she should call me. This way, I let her know that I was happy for her to call me Dad, and she has done ever since, and I genuinely do see her in the same way I see you two, as a massive pain in the backside!” Matt teased, earning him a slap from Alex. “Only joking! I see you all the same though, as my children, and I don’t love any of you more or less than the others. I can’t remember where I got the idea from, but looking back, maybe I should have at least warned your mum that I planned to do something at the start of the ceremony.”**

**He thought back to the look on Alex’s face when he interrupted the service. The way he had done it hadn’t been his wisest move, it was clear afterwards that Alex must have thought he was going to leave her, when in fact, he wanted to make their marriage stronger.**

**“I was preparing to kill you with my bare hands when you stopped it, but the minute you got down on one knee and proposed to Salome, I just… I didn’t know what to say, and you know that it’s not often that I’m speechless! From there, the day just kept getting better and better!”**

23rd December 2011

Confetti got everywhere. Just one look at Matt and Salome told her that her hair must be in even more of a state, she would be picking it out for weeks to come. It was bad enough when Matt had taken her to see a play during the summer with confetti sprinkling down onto the audience at the end, she genuinely found a piece of it in her shoe 6 weeks later! This was smaller though, and got everywhere. Alex was fairly confident that there would be several photos of her taken that day with her hands down her dress, fishing bits of confetti out of her bra… though she thought maybe Matt would like that job later?

The room holding the reception couldn’t have looked better. It hadn’t been easy to do, but nets of fairy lights had been hung on the ceiling, covered in navy fabric, giving the illusion of stars twinkling in the night sky. Tables had large glass bowls in the middle, filled with blue, silver and white baubles and more fairy lights. It just felt right for them, Alex had even agreed for them to tie three candy canes together to hold each person’s place card as well, giving a little hint of Christmas in the room.

They hadn’t asked for presents, they had no need for 5 toasters, 3 kettles, a microwave and a set of cushion covers that would clash hideously in their living room, instead asking for donations, but a few people brought some little presents for them, which were left on a table in the corner, along with a massive stack of congratulatory cards for the pair. Sitting at the top table, with her husband one side of her, and her daughter the other, it suddenly all felt incredibly surreal to Alex.

Thankfully, the food tasted amazing, and they all managed to eat it without spilling any down their outfits, which surprised Alex. She was confident that Matt would end up with soup down his shirt or some of the beef in his lap. It seemed being the groom came with a level of coordination that Matt didn’t usually possess.

Once they had finished their starter, she felt Matt’s hand on her thigh, giving it a brief squeeze.

“I’m really sorry, beautiful, but you know what’s up next, don’t you?” He asked.

“Best man’s speech...” Alex groaned.

She had barely finished speaking before Arthur was standing up, microphone in hand, tapping his fork against the side of his champagne flute. Here comes the embarrassment for Matt then, she thought.

“Can I have everybody’s attention please?” He started, waiting patiently for the room to quieten down, and turn to face him. “For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Arthur, I’m the best man.” Arthur paused for a moment, letting people cheer at his position on the top table. “For those of you who do know me, then I apologise, I’m not sure if I have ever told you that my full name is Arthur Can I Buy You A Drink? So, if you do come and speak to me later, I would appreciate it if you use my full name!” The room erupted half with laughter, half with groans, turning into laughter when Arthur was hit by a screwed up napkin from Matt.

“It’s a free bar you idiot!” Matt complained.

“I am fully aware of that, and intend to make full use of it!” Arthur replied, turning his attention back to his audience. All of those amongst you who know Alex, will know what a warm, genuine, loving person she is, and she really deserves a husband who is the same. It’s a shame really that Matt married her before she found one!”

Alex giggled at the pout on Matt’s face, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “I still love you though.” She whispered, looking back at Arthur so he could continue.

Arthur went on to tell the room how it had been painfully obvious since the minute Matt and Alex had met that they would be perfect for each other, and how happy he was that they had both found happiness, to the agreement of everyone in the room.

“I do have some messages to pass on, from those who couldn’t be here today. There’s quite a few from your friends in LA, Alex. I won’t read them all out, so I’ll give you the cards later, but the general consensus is they are all sorry they couldn’t be here and wish you every happiness for the future. Daniel and Craig from Roath Lock studios also sent their apologies, asking if they could borrow the Tardis for a bit so they don’t have to miss the wedding of River Song for a second time. Finally, I’ve got a message for Alex from Matt’s football squad in Northampton. They, again, apologise that they couldn’t all be here this evening, but they said good luck with Matt, they found him to be fairly useless in all positions, but wish you all the best for a successful time tonight!” Arthur said saucily, watching as Matt covered his face in shame, and Alex went bright red, hearing him mumble something about his plans to kill them all.

Alex leant in closer to Matt, her hand dangerously high up on his thigh. “Just so you know, there isn’t a single position I have found you useless in yet, and I plan on testing quite a few more over the coming months.”

“There will definitely be something coming over the next few months… me and you!” Matt added with a waggle of his non existent eyebrows.

“All that is left for me to say, is congratulations you two. I really do wish you all the best for the future, and hope you have a lifetime of happiness ahead of you, though with how clumsy Matt is, how long that lifetime is, is unknown. Everyone, please raise your glasses, to the bride and groom!”

Matt and Alex granted the crowd’s request for a kiss, before their main courses were handed out, surprised when afterwards, Salome stood up holding a microphone. She asked if everyone could pay her attention, as she unfolded a sheet of paper her grandfather had held on to for her.

“Hi everyone, I’m Salome, I’m Alex’s daughter, and now Matt’s as well! I’m also the maid of honour. I know you weren’t expecting me to make a speech Mum, but it’s part of the maid of honour’s job, along with planning the hen do, so I wanted to say something. I just wanted to say how happy I am that you have married Matt, and Matt, I hope you know how much I love you. You make me and Mum really happy, and you make us feel really loved. Since you came into our lives, Mum has smiled so much more, and I know that it’s because of you. I can’t wait to properly become your daughter, and I can’t wait for you two to have a baby too! But please remember, if you ever make Mummy sad, then I will be after you! I love you both so much!” Salome stood about awkwardly, not really knowing how to finish her little speech. “Um… That was kind of it really! But congratulations!”

Alex wiped a tear from her eye, very grateful that her mascara was waterproof, and leant across to hug Salome. Matt even stood up and walked round to hug her too, so proud of his new daughter.

Dessert was then served, and Matt mentally prepared himself for his speech, but was cut off by having the microphone snatched away from him just before he stood up by Alex.

She clutched the microphone in her hand, and tapped her champagne flute, watching as every turned to look at her.

“Sorry, I know it’s not really normal for the bride to make a speech, but… as those of you who know me will know, when have I ever been normal?” She said, pausing as her family and friends laughed. “Really, I just wanted to say that I am in love with this guy. He is funny, kind, handsome, caring, and incredibly buff! He can always cheer me up when I’m having a bad day, and in my eyes, can do no wrong. I’m so in love with him.” Everyone in the room coo-ed over the sweetness of Alex’s speech, and Matt’s eyes glistened with tears and love. “But, unfortunately for me, Gerrard Butler couldn’t be here today, and I’m stuck being married to this lemon!” She added, gesturing to Matt with her thumb, smirking at his scowl. “I have to say though, I couldn’t be happier about that. Although Gerrard Butler seems pretty perfect to me, you, Matthew Robert Smith, are flawless. Everyday you surprise me, and everyday you make me even more grateful that you came into mine and my daughter’s lives. I will never be able to say enough just how much I love you, and I hope more than anything that we will be happy for a very, very long time. So, could everyone please raise their glasses, to my husband! Wow, that sounds so strange still! Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, the groom, Matt Smith!” She said. Matt stood beside her, taking the mic from her and placing it on the table so he could pull her close and kiss her, whispering into her hair how much he loved her too, but how he would get his revenge on her at some point. As Alex settled back into her chair, Matt took the mic, and started speaking.

“Hi everyone, I would introduce myself, but I would like to think that by now you all know who I am, but for those of you who have been living under a rock for the last two years...” He said, tugging on his bow tie and pulling on the lapels of his suit awkwardly, somehow managing to not drop the microphone. “I’m the Doctor!” Everyone cheered, especially the children.

Alex shook her head disapprovingly next to him, rolling her eyes at her husbands absurdity. “He loves it, doesn’t he?” She mumbled to Salome, who nodded her head in agreement.

"But we love him!" Salome laughed back, her attention fully focussed on Matt.

"If things go the way I'm hoping, this speech will be like a mini skirt. Long enough to cover the essentials, but short enough to hold your attention! I mean, it’s been an emotional day, even the cake is in tiers!" Matt joked. "I'd like to start by saying all of the thank you's. To everyone that has come today, especially those of you who have travelled long distances, on behalf of myself and my wife, God I love saying that!, thank you so much, we couldn't imagine the day without you. Well, it would have been a lot cheaper for starters... I would also like to thank my parents, for raising me to be capable of being able to convince someone like Alex to even give me a shot! I'd like to thank the beautiful bridesmaids, and of course, my best man and fellow groomsmen, you have all been invaluable with helping to pull this day together! Salome, thank you for just being you, and for accepting me into your life with open arms, it means so much to me, and I meant every word I said earlier in the ceremony. To have you as my daughter would be the greatest honour I could imagine, because that is how I see you. Alex's parents, Tony and Margarethe, you deserve a special thank you for contributing the most important element of today, Alex herself. Without you, this beautiful woman wouldn't be next to me now, so thank you for that, and everything else, you have made me feel like the son you never wanted... Sorry, the son you never had! We do have presents for everyone, but we have decided to make them a little more special, and we will give them to you all as Christmas presents over the next few days."

Matt stopped speaking for a moment, and turned to speak directly to Alex, holding her hand in his as she looked up at him with shining eyes.

"There is one person though, that I need to say the biggest thank you too. My wife, Alex. I still to this day have no idea why you agreed to go out with me, but I will forever be grateful that you did. Most men won't admit it, but like all little girls, we too dream of our wedding when we are young. Maybe not in the same way, we don't fantasize over dresses and flowers and colour schemes like you, but we still imagine what the day, and night, would be like. When I was little, I always pictured myself marrying someone beautiful, loving, funny, who could provide me with a happy house and family. I never imagined that one day my wife would be someone as perfect as you. I know it isnt socially acceptable to talk about ex girlfriends on your wedding day, but I have loved women before you, as you loved others before me. I thought, at the time that each of them was perfect and that I loved them. Then I met you, and I fell a little bit in love with you the day I first saw you, then I got to know you more, and each day I fell more and more in love with you. I was already half gone when we started dating, and it only got worse from there. It didn't take long for me to realize that I loved you more than anyone I had ever loved. All of the women, that makes it sound like there was hundreds of them, there wasn't! They just paled in comparison to you, I can't picture another woman ever matching you, this is it for me. I swear, right now, that aside from if we are ever blessed with having another daughter, I will never love another woman. You make waking up every morning worthwhile, every bad day, every petty argument over me leaving an empty carton in the fridge, it's all worthwhile to know that you love me, and I will spend the rest of my life doing my utmost to keep you as happy as you are now. I love you Alex, and I will never stop. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for loving me, and making me the happiest, and luckiest man in all of time and space."

Matt pulled Alex to her feet, and put the microphone down. He cupped her cheeks, bringing her in for a kiss. Every time he kissed her, felt like the first time. Matt would never tire of Alex's kisses, he would never tire of any part of her, she was perfection.

The happy couple sat back down to the cheers and applause of everyone in the room, both unable to wipe the stupid, lovestruck grins from their faces.

"I love you." Alex whispered to him, placing her hand subtly on his thigh.

"Love you too, Mrs Smith."

Once the speeches were over and done with, many more tears being shed along the way, the party well and truly got started. The DJ belted out hits as everyone started dancing with Matt and Alex watching on from the top table, until everyone was asked to make way for the happy couple to share their first dance.

They hadn’t rehearsed. Alex had seen some of Matt’s dance moves over the years, and they left a lot to be desired. He had already been inundated with requests to do the drunk giraffe, refusing to do so until he had danced with Alex for the first time.

The soft notes of ‘Your Song’ by Elton John came over the speakers, as Matt proudly held his hand out, beckoning for Alex to join him. They held each other close, swaying to the beat, sharing their breath and kissing almost constantly. Neither wanted to be apart more than they had to. As the song ended, and they shared one last parting kiss, Alex found herself in her father’s arms, and Salome was in Matt’s, dancing along to ‘My Girl’ by the Temptations. Salome giggled as Matt twirled her around, singing every word of the song to her, watched on by Alex who’s heart felt fit to burst at the sight of her two favourite people having the times of their lives.

By the time it got to midnight, both Matt and Alex felt dead on their feet. It had been a long day, a few guests had left already, needing to get home to prepare for Christmas, and Salome was struggling to keep her eyes open, Matt had been holding her on his hip for the last half an hour, no mean feat bearing in mind she was nearly 13.

“We should get her up to bed.” Alex quietly said to Matt, stroking her daughter’s hair back from her face as she mumbled unintelligibly. “She’s exhausted.”

“We should.” Matt agreed. “I’m feeling pretty beat too. Maybe we should go to bed as well, say goodnight to the last few stragglers.”

“I hope you aren’t planning on sleeping when you get to our room, darling. There is still one, very, very, important part of the wedding day left. One more tradition that needs celebrating.”

Matt perked up instantly, his mind suddenly filled with images of Alex in the throes of passion, wearing nothing but her wedding dress.

“Let’s go up then.” He smirked.

It took a little while, but they managed to say goodnight to everyone, and passed Margarethe the spare key card for Salome’s room, which was next to her own, asking her to check in on the girl occasionally, as she would be in her own room that night.

They got Salome upstairs, and Alex helped her out of her dress and into her pyjamas. Together, her and Matt tucked their daughter (the thought of that still filled Alex with glee), giving her a kiss on the forehead, and making her promise to not open the door to anyone she didn’t know, even though they were only going to be down the hall.


	17. Wedding night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few minutes later, the newlyweds were in the corridor, giggling and unable to keep their hands to themselves. They stumbled through the door, feeling drunk on the champagne they’d been drinking all day and on the love they felt for each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah.... I have no explanation for my absence, but I'm still here, still doing... stuff I guess!

**22nd January 2040**

**“Sounds like it was a good party!” Mark commented, looking over at his wife. “Not that ours was bad.”**

**“Mark, we had a quickie wedding in Vegas, you don’t remember our wedding reception because you were pissed out of your mind!” Salome complained. They had been married for nearly 13 years now, having gone to Vegas with Matt and Alex for a convention. One night, after downing a few too many shots, they grabbed some flowers from the supermarket, pulled on the nicest clothes they could find, and headed out to the Little White Chapel, it wasn’t like it was a massive leap for them, Mark had already proposed a few months before, they took the chance of getting married while they could, quickly and cheaply. It took 4 hours after they all woke up the next day, before either of them remembered about the wedding, though judging by the photo’s on their phones, they had enjoyed themselves after. To please their families, once they arrived back in the UK, they agreed to have their wedding blessed, in a more traditional ceremony.**

**“I’m almost a little jealous I wasn’t there.” Rose added, always wanting to be the heart and soul of a party.**

**They all made small talk for a while, playing with Salome’s children, until the eldest started complaining that she was bored, and the younger two were getting tired. From the corner of her eye, Alex saw Lucy whispering to Zach, before they announced that they were leaving, prompting their other children to decide to head home as well.**

**Salome left with her husband and children first, making sure they all hugged their grandparents goodbye before bundling into the car, and telling them to give her love to the twins as she wasn’t sure when she would next see them. Rose and James then left, with a promise that she would be round one night in the week so they could both help her with a script she was practicing, being an actress herself and making them promise to tell her the rest of their story another time. Then finally Zach pulled Lucy up off of the sofa, and they too hugged Matt and Alex goodbye.**

**“Good luck.” Alex whispered to Lucy, out of ear shot of the boys. “Call us when your waters break, ok? Even if it’s in the middle of the night. We were there for each of Sal’s kids, we will be there for yours too.”**

**“What are you on about?” Lucy questioned her.**

**“I’ve been in labour enough times to know what it looks like when you feel the first contractions, and if I’m right in saying, you started feeling them about an hour ago.”**

**“I’m scared.” Lucy whispered.**

**“You’ll be fine. If I can do it, then so can you.” Alex reassured her. “Promise you will call, and we will be there straight away.”**

**Lucy nodded her head, her hands joining Alex’s on her stomach. Alex’s face lit up at the prospect of getting another grandchild in the next few days, she already doted on the ones she had.**

**By the time everyone had left, Matt and Alex was exhausted. Entertaining a full house like that for 6 hours was hard work, and it was always easy to forget how energetic the kids were. Even though Salome’s children weren’t biologically related to Matt, Alex could have sworn they inherited his hyperactivity.**

**“Bring your phone to bed.” Alex instructed Matt, letting him go and have a shower after having played football in the garden earlier in the day with the children and boys, while Alex made them both a cup of tea to have in bed, just like she had done every night for the last few years.**

**She threw on the nearest pair of pyjama’s, passing Matt his tea and tucking herself into bed next to him. “Lucy’s started feeling contractions, I told them to ring us when they get to the hospital so we can meet them there.”**

**Matt nodded his head, having a grandchild this time felt different, maybe it was because Zach was physically his child. He had been there since the very start of his life, and now he was having his own child. “Scary isn’t it? Our kids, having kids. Feels like 5 minutes ago we just started dating. It was lovely today, telling them our story.”**

**“It was, felt like the right time to tell them the whole story.”**

**“They haven’t got the whole story though, have they? Some things were a little too… risque, to tell them.” Matt teased.**

**“Well, if you are referring to our wedding night, I know exactly what you mean.” Alex agreed.**

23rd December 2011.

A few minutes later, the newlyweds were in the corridor, giggling and unable to keep their hands to themselves. They stumbled through the door, feeling drunk on the champagne they’d been drinking all day and on the love they felt for each other.

“Well then, Mrs Smith, shall we make this marriage official?” Matt asked, trailing his hand down her back and over her bum, giving it a teasing squeeze, earning him a squeak of surprise from Alex.

“I can’t think of anything better, Mr Smith!”

They collapsed onto the bed, still both fully dressed, kissing each other passionately. Their hands roamed wherever they could reach, and it only took a minute for Alex to have Matt’s jacket on the floor, his waistcoat undone and his bow tie loose around his neck. Alex’s dress seemed to a little harder to Matt to get into.

Another kissing for what felt like forever, Matt pulled Alex up, shuffling her over to the edge of the bed, bestowing a kiss to her wedding ring. He crouched down on the floor between her legs, and slipped each of her navy blue, glittery high heels off. He admired them for a moment, laughing when he saw the stickers on the bottom.

“I do?” He laughed, one sticker on each foot.

“You didn’t get away without them either honey, have you not noticed?”

Matt quickly sat down on the floor, untying his own laces and slipping the shoes off, laughing even harder at the stickers on the bottoms of them. “Help me!” He said incredulously. “Why would I need helping?”

Alex didn’t answer, instead grabbing his shoulders and pulling him closer to her, kissing him with everything she had. His hands caressed her feet for a moment, before stroking up and down the backs of her calves, tickling lightly at the underside of her knees which had Alex whimpering above him. She lay back on the bed, content to let Matt have his wicked way with her.

His hands inched their way higher, one hand on each leg, until he felt frills on her right thigh.

“What’s this?” He asked happily, knowing straight away. His hands slipped back down her legs, grabbing the hems of her dress and pushing it up her thighs, smiling like an idiot when he saw the navy and silver garter around her thigh. “Property of Matt Smith?” He questioned, reading the embroidery on the garter, looking up to see Alex looking down at him happily. He hooked his fingers under the elastic, and pulled it down her leg, pinging it across the room. “You won’t be needing that anymore.”

“That’s just as well, because I’m all yours darling.”

Alex’s dress had fallen back down past her knees, but it didn’t stop Matt from surging underneath it.

The voluminous layers of tulle, silk and lace that made up the puffy skirt of Alex’s face swamped Matt, falling around his face and almost suffocating him, but he had one destination in mind. He kissed his way up her legs, alternating between her thighs as he inched his way higher, teasing Alex. She whimpered above him, as she could feel his hot breath through the scant material that counted as her knickers that day.

“I like these.” She heard Matt mumble against the fabric. “Shame I’m going to have to rip them off.”

It was hard to understand Matt, and it made her laugh. All Alex could see was a lump under her skirt in her lap as Matt quickly pulled the knickers down her legs, tossing them behind him, making Alex slip on the bed.

“Matt...” She breathed. “Please...”

Hearing his wife beg for him turned Matt on incredibly, and he braced his hands on each of her thighs as he dove in, licking a stripe over her folds before suckling on her clit. His left hand slid round, teasing her entrance and spreading the wetness there until he pushed his middle two fingers in, making sure that Alex could feel the cold metal of his ring against her skin.

Alex wanted to thread her finger’s through Matt’s hair, to hold him closer to her so he couldn’t stop, but her dress was in the way. As she felt her body building towards her orgasm, she reached down and pulled the dress up, hitching it up over her waist, revealing Matt smiling against her core, eating her out like it was his final meal. His fingers pumped in and out of her quicker and quicker as her hands finally found his hair, pulling gently on the chestnut brown locks, before holding him to her. 

Suddenly, Alex snapped, her body tensing suddenly before breaking. With his name on her lips, she fell back onto the bed, panting as she floated back down to earth and Matt knelt up before her, looking incredibly pleased with himself as he wiped the remains of her juices from his mouth.

“Enjoy that, Mrs Smith?”

“Not a bad first effort Mr Smith, but I’m sure you can improve!” She teased, running her hand down his body to cup his hardened length.

He pulled her up on shaky legs, and moved to stand behind her, unlacing her gown.

“You really did look beautiful today sweetheart. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Matt whispered, pressing kisses to each inch of skin as it was revealed to him. He gently pushed the short sleeves of her dress off of her shoulders, and slid it down her body, holding it out for Alex to step out of once he reached her knees.

As Alex stepped back, her hair a wild mess from thrashing around on the pillows before, Matt held the dress was reverence, laying it out across the small loveseat in their honeymoon suite.

“This isn’t fair.” Alex complained. “I’m almost naked, but you’re still almost fully clothed!”

“There’s one way we can fix that.” Matt replied quickly, whipping his bow tie from around his neck and throwing it around Alex’s waist, pulling her closer to him with a giggle as she untucked his shirt.

Her hands deftly undid the buttons of his waistcoat and shirt, leaving them hanging open. Matt’s hands dropped the silky bow tie, bringing his hands up in front of Alex so she could remove his cuff links.

“I do today.” She whispered, reading the writing on one of them, pressing a kiss to Matt’s open palm. “I will forever.” She added, repeating her actions of the other side. Once the cuff links were off, and Matt had reached round to place them on the table, Matt shucked the clothing off of his shoulders as Alex reached down to undo his belt and trousers, pushing them down his legs to pool as his feet.

“Property of Alexandra Smith?” She asked laughingly, looking down at Matt’s tight fitting black boxers with white writing on one thigh. “Quite right too.”

“I’ll never be anyone else’s.” Matt said. He cupped her cheek with one hand, using the other to hold her hip, bringing her into his lithe body.

They kissed in the soft light of the room, their tongues tangling together in each other’s mouths. This was the only time they would ever experience this, their wedding night, and they both wanted to savour the opportunity. Matt’s hands reached into Alex’s hair, fumbling for a moment before unclipping the sparkling clip and reaching round to place it on the table behind him without breaking the kiss. He knew it had been Alex’s ‘something borrowed’ for her wedding, lent to her for the day from her mother. The sapphire and diamond necklace, given to her by her grandmother as a teenager, having been in the family for years, was her ‘something old’, the dress was ‘new’ and her garter had evidently counted as the ‘blue’.

Alex shed her white lace bra, dropping it to the floor, looking at Matt with an arched eyebrow and gesturing to the bed. His boxers were on the floor in seconds as he crawled up the bed after her, showering her body in kisses and nips. Matt’s hard cock pressed insistently against her body until Alex weaved a hand between them, opening her legs to let Matt settle between them and pumped him a few times, spreading the pre-come over his head.

She held him against her core, guiding him in slowly as they consummated their marriage. When Matt was fully seated inside her, with Alex’s legs wrapped around his hips, he looked down at her, threading their left hands together across her body, letting their rings scrape together.

“I love you, Alexandra Smith.”

“As I love you too darling.”

Matt pulled his hips back, pushing back into Alex slowly but deeply, pumping them in and out until she was keening on the bed. He hitched her other leg over his shoulder, allowing him deeper as his thrust into her harder.

Alex dropped her leg from his waist, using her hand on his back to scrape down, leaving red scratch marks, landing on his firm backside which she kneaded in time to his thrusts, tilting her hips against his. Her back arched as Matt sucked on her neck, whispering into her ear just how beautiful she was, and how proud he was to be able to call her his wife.

Neither of them lasted long, and Matt came first, his hips stuttering against hers. The feel of Matt emptying himself inside of her set Alex off, the walls of her pussy clamping down on his cock and milking it for all it had.

Matt dropped her leg and untangled their hands, collapsing on top of her for a few seconds before rolling off to the side as they both started giggling.

Once they had gotten their breath back, and the jelly like feeling had gone from their legs, Alex climbed out of bed to Matt’s disappointment.

“Where are you going?” He moaned.

“To get cleaned up. If I go to bed with all of this make up on, I’ll look like a panda in the morning. I won’t be long.”

He leered at her, watching his wife’s arse sway as she sashayed into the bathroom. Returning 10 minutes later fresh faced and wearing a dressing gown as she saw Matt had now thrown on a pair of pants and a t-shirt as well.

“Do you like?” She asked, twirling around, showing Matt the back of the dressing gown. “It was a present from my hen party.”

The word’s Mr and Mrs Smith were embroidered on the back, with the date below it, navy blue with white writing to match the colour theme for the day.

“I love it.” Matt said, smiling brightly at Alex.

“How about now?” She asked, untying the rope and letting the robe fall down around her ankles, revealing the brand new, white, skimpy night dress she had brought, just for this occasion.

“Definitely prefer that!” Matt joked, his eyes bugging out. “But you might get cold… Guess you’ll have to snuggle up to me to keep warm.”

“I can’t think of anything else I would rather do, honey.” Alex replied, climbing into bed beside him and wrapping her arms around his waist as he threw his over her shoulders. “We got married today, can you believe it?”

“No! I can honestly say, it’s been the best day of my life, and I couldn’t be happier. I love you, and Salome so very much, and I will until the day I die.” Matt told her softly, pressing a lingering kiss to her curls.

“We love you too.” Alex said quietly, closing her eyes as her head rested on her husband’s shoulder.

Calling him her husband would take some getting used too. As she fell asleep that night, Alex thought that when she first got the call from Steven Moffat, asking her to come back to Doctor Who to support the new Doctor and companion, she never could have imagined that it all would have led to this.


	18. Maybe baby

**23rd January 2040.**

**They lay in bed, on their sides, looking deep into each other’s eyes, but smiling lovingly.**

**“How is it possible to still be this much in love with you? It’s like every time I see your smile, kiss you, hold you, make love to you, it still feels like the first time.” Matt asked quietly, breaking the silence between them.**

**“How is it possible for you to still be such a sappy, romantic idiot? Yet, I wouldn’t change you for the world!” Alex replied, leaning across and kissing Matt gently. His arms wrapped around her waist, resting lightly on her back as he deepened the kiss.**

**“Want to recreate our wedding night?” He teased, pulling back from the kiss ever so slightly, his hand dropping down to cup her bottom.**

**Alex giggled softly, making Matt’s heart fill with joy at the sound. “Not sure if you’ve got it in you these days sweetie...” She answered, as Matt nipped at her neck, rolling her on to her back.**

**They finally fell asleep an hour or so later, happy and sated and wrapped up around each other. It was 4.30am when they were woken up by the shrill ring of Matt’s mobile going off.**

**“That will be Zach.” Alex groaned, rolling over to shove at Matt until he too turned and reached out to answer the phone, unsurprised when it turned out to be his son, telling them that they had just been admitted to hospital, and they were welcome to come down and wait if they wanted.**

**Matt grumbled the whole way to the hospital, complaining that it was still dark, he hadn’t had breakfast, or even a cup of coffee, and that Alex had kept him up late into the night with her wicked ways. He headed straight for the hospital canteen once they had arrived, knowing the way off by heart over the years, having been there many times with all of his children and grandchildren having been born there.**

**Alex was just leaving Lucy’s room as he arrived in the maternity waiting area, being met with Salome and Rose as well, thanking his lucky stars that he had brought enough tea/coffee and bacon sandwiches for them all.**

**No one was properly awake, and for a while, Alex even nodded off on Matt’s shoulder while his daughter’s kept themselves occupied gossiping, having not had much chance recently. Rose had been busy auditioning and preparing for a new movie, while Salome had been working on an important psychological paper that Matt could even begin to understand, no matter how many times she explained it to him.**

**The sounds of women screaming in agony filled the halls, and one particularly loud yell woke Alex with a start, trying to get her bearings around her to her daughters’, and husbands amusement.**

**“Come on, tell us another story.” Rose said, breaking the silence that had fell between them. “Tell us about when you decided to have a baby.”**

**“You don’t want to hear about that! That will give you images!” Salome bemoaned. “I certainly don’t want to know how mum got pregnant!”**

**“I don’t want to know that bit, thank you very much Salsa! I just… oh god, I’ve got horrid images in my brain now! I just meant, I mean, you didn’t hang around did you? Zach was born before your first anniversary, did you plan it or was he an accident?” Rose asked, shaking her wild curls to try and lose the picture of her parents having sex.**

**Matt and Alex smirked naughtily at each other and laughed. “Your brother was not an accident, Rose. None of you were, Sal and the twins, were… let’s say, unplanned… but definitely not accidents!”**

**“We had talked about it a little bit, before we got married, and we both knew that having a baby was definitely on the cards at some point in the future. It was only when we were on our honeymoon that we properly talked about it, and then started trying.” Matt added.**

30th December 2011

They had been on their honeymoon for three days, spending one week in Florence before driving down to Rome for another week while Salome stayed with her grandparents. The weather had been perfect, and they had spent the last couple of days taking long, romantic walks, stopping in little bistro’s for pizza and pasta, and making love all through the night. Their hotel overlooked the River Arno, which, as the sun was hanging low on the horizon, bathing the city in an orange glow, looked perfect. With a small bunch of flowers (which Alex had already nicked one of to press) on the table sitting on their balcony over looking a bridge across the river, Alex and Matt were sitting next to each other in the cool winter evening, watching video’s of their wedding on Matt’s mobile that had been sent to him by family and friends.

“I want to do it all again.” He commented. “I still can’t get over how stunning you looked. I know you will never believe me, but you really are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in the life.”

Alex smiled soft up at him, leaning across to steal a kiss. She couldn’t stop herself from doing it, she had a hard time keeping her hands, and lips off of him. Her fingers linked with his in his lap, and her head leant on his shoulder as Matt started the next video playing. It was his wedding speech.

The pair of them giggled quietly at Matt’s attempts at jokes, and it struck Alex just how Matt looked at her throughout, both on screen and in person. There was a constant look of adoration and loving in his eyes when he could see her.

“Matt?” Alex asked a minute after the video had finished, with both of them staring out over the darkening horizon.

“Yeah, beautiful?”

“You know what you said, in your speech… about if we were blessed enough to have another daughter?” She said softly, too afraid to look up at him.

“Mmmm.” He answered, tangling his free hand in her curls that tumbled around her shoulders.

“And Salome, saying that she can’t wait for us to have a baby… Do you think about it?”

Matt pulled back from Alex, but kept his arm around her shoulder. The sun set made her hair look like it was on fire, it had him transfixed. “I do, yeah. I can see us, with a kid, in the not too distant future. What about you?”

Alex looked back towards the sunset for a moment, taking Matt’s phone and taking a quick photo as the sun had dipped between two buildings, casting shadows across the river. “Same. I see us having a baby too.”

Silence fell between them as they both looked out over the river, watching as small boats bobbed along the surface of the water.

“Do you want to? I mean, do you want to start trying?” Matt asked, almost inaudibly.

“Now?” Alex replied, the panic at the suddenness of Matt’s question evident in her voice.

“Well, not this exact minute, but yeah… We are happy, we’ve got a strong relationship, we both love Salome, and I think do a pretty good job of raising her, we are financially stable, and I don’t think either of us really have too much work lined up for this year aside from Who, and I think I’m ready to be a father… to a baby I mean, as well as Sal. So, what do you say, want to start trying for a baby?”

It took Alex a few seconds to build up the courage to look up at Matt, she wanted to be certain she was making the right decision. It seemed awfully quick, but then, they had been together nearly 2 years. He was right, they were in a good place to start a family… and she wanted it, badly.

She pulled her lower lip between her teeth as she nodded her head against his shoulder, finally looking up at him nervously. “I do.” She whispered, saying those words for the second time in as many weeks.

Matt beamed down at her, his smile as bright as the sun that had set in front of them. “Really?” He double checked, leaning forward to cup her cheeks and press his lips against his wife’s. “What do we do know? Where do we go from here?”

Alex slowly stood up, and walked backwards towards the door to their room, pulling her jumper off and tossing it onto the chair just inside. “Well, I hear having sex is a good place to start.” She purred, holding a hand out to him. Matt was out of his chair like a gunshot, pulling the door closed behind him before pouncing on Alex like a predator, throwing his jumper on top of Alex’s. He pushed her back onto the bed with a shriek, silencing her with a kiss as they stripped each other of the remainder of their clothes.

Once they were under the duvet, Alex sat astride Matt’s hips, his hard length resting against his stomach in front of her until she pulled herself up and took him in her small hands, leaving him poised at her entrance.

“Are you sure?” Alex asked, looking deep into Matt’s eyes, sinking down on him when he nodded his head in affirmation. With his hands on her hips, Alex moved above Matt, her breasts bouncing with every thrust until they tipped over the edge together a few minutes later, when she collapsed on top of him, rolling to the side after a second. She could feel his release leaking out of her, oozing down her thigh. Alex took Matt’s hand, linking her fingers with his and placing their joined hands over her abdomen. “Now… we wait and see.”

“And repeat that on a regular basis I assume?” Matt laughed, pulling Alex close to him. “Just think, beautiful, we could have a honeymoon baby!”

They fell asleep soon after, exhausted from a day roaming the streets of Florence, and their love making. There was every chance that come their first anniversary, they could have a baby, or Alex at least be pregnant, and that was a thought that filled them both with excitement, and just the right about of terror.

10th January 2012

Their honeymoon flew past, and soon enough they were driving back from Heathrow airport, high on excitement for getting their married lives started. It wasn’t easy leaving Italy, but equally, they were both ready to come home and see Salome after having been away for two weeks. It was time for real life to start.

Salome had been sitting at the window of her grandparents house, waiting to see her parents pull up on the driveway. She had spoken to them at least once a day while they had been on holiday, but had still missed them like mad, she was just as excited to start their new lives as a family as they were. Finally, after nearly 13 years, she had a father, and as Salome looked down on the ring that Matt had given her at their wedding, she couldn’t be happier with who it was.

As soon as the familiar black audi turned into the driveway, Salome screamed that they were home, running out of the front door like a whirlwind.

“Mum!” She screeched, throwing herself into her mother’s arms. “I’ve missed you so much!”

“We’ve both missed you too, sweetie.” Alex replied as Matt wrapped his arms around them both.

“Dad!” Salome shouted when she felt him behind her. Hearing her call him Dad brought tears to Matt’s eyes.

“Hello poppet. Have you been good for your grandparents?” He asked as Salome nodded.

Margarethe and Tony understood that they didn’t want to hang around for long, letting them get home with a promise to come back round for dinner the following weekend to tell them all about their holiday.

It took nearly two hours to drive back home to Oxford, with Salome babbling along the whole time about everything she had been up to with her grandparents, and Matt and Alex butting in occasionally with stories from their holiday.

By the time they were finally home, everyone was exhausted, and collapsed in front of the tv with a takeaway Chinese. When their energy levels picked up a bit, Matt and Alex gave Salome her gifts, of clothes, jewellery and bags from Italy, and Salome gave them the scrapbook of wedding photos and keepsakes that she had been working on while they had been away.

Salome made her way to bed in the evening, leaving Matt and Alex alone. Everything was perfect, quiet and romantic as they cuddled on the sofa, sharing soft, gentle kisses and basked in the bliss of being newly-weds.

When Alex popped quickly to the toilet during the adverts, Matt watched her go with a smile. His beautiful wife, so perfect for him. She came back a few minutes later, with misty eyes and a look a disappointment covering her face.

“I’ve started my period.” She grumbled, plopping herself in her husband’s lap as she rested her chin on his shoulder. “I know it was unlikely to happen the first month, but where it had been so easy with Salome, didn’t even have to try… I just...”

“You thought it would be the same this time.” Matt finished for her, wrapping his arms tight around her waist. “It’s not the end of the world, it’s just your hormones making it seem worse than it is.” He comforted her, knowing she always got teary when she was on her period. “We’ll try again, you weren’t even sure if it was the right time to start trying, were you? We can buy some of those ovulation stick things if you want. Just means lots more sex for us in the next few weeks. Ok, beautiful?”

Matt pressed a kiss into her curls, rocking her gently before he climbed up and went upstairs to run her a nice, soothing bath with a nice cup of tea.

“Lex! Come up here.” He called, waiting patiently as Alex climbed the stairs gingerly, careful not to make her stomach hurt more. “I’ve run you a nice bath. Relax for a bit, then we can go to bed.”

“What would I do without you, Mr Smith?” She asked, draping her arms across his shoulders, as Matt started pulling at her t-shirt. He helped her into the bath, grabbing pyjama’s for her and doing her hot water bottle.

As Alex climbed into bed a while later, snuggled in Matt’s arms, she wondered, not for the first time, what she had done to deserve the perfect husband.

11th February 2012

“Morning beautiful!” Matt cheerfully greeted her as Alex stirred in her sleep. The smell of bacon, eggs and coffee woke her to a Sunday morning breakfast in bed. Matt passed her a cup of coffee, leaning back in the bed himself to tuck into his own breakfast.

Alex took one sip of the coffee before putting it down on the night stand next to her, not in the mood for coffee that morning. The sight of the food was making her feel nauseous.

“Sorry, love. Not feeling it this morning. Thank you anyway. You eat yours, I’m just going to pop in the shower quickly.” Alex told him, leaving him in bed alone with a kiss on his cheek.

The water was running down Alex’s back, massaging the shampoo into her hair as she thought. The nauseous feeling when she had smelt breakfast was unheard of for her… except for one time before… when she had been pregnant with Salome.

12th February 2012

Alex hadn’t had the chance to slip out of the house to buy a pregnancy test the day before, but now, with Matt at an audition, and Salome at school, she had the opportunity. On her way home from a meeting with her agent, Alex called into the chemist in a quiet village a few miles from their home, and grabbed a couple of boxes. There was no doubt in her mind that her period was late now. She should have had it at least 2 days ago.

She ran up the stairs when she got home, locking herself in the toilet, but doing nothing but stare down at the test, too scared to take it. Was it too soon? They hadn’t even been married two months, and had only just celebrated their second anniversary…

That thought led her to take the test. The second anniversary of their first date had been a couple of weeks before. It had been quite the night… There had been wine, and laughing, and quite a lot of sex… Maybe, that had been the night, if she were pregnant. There was only one way to find that out though.

Alex remembered from when she suspected she was pregnant with Salome that the time it took for the test to develop seemed to stretch on indefinitely. As soon as she had flushed the toilet and washed her hands, she picked up the two tests she had done, and headed downstairs, putting the tests back in the box which she left on the kitchen table while she made herself some lunch and a cup of tea.

Her gaze kept flicking back to the box, her fingers itching to pick it up and to just know. She hoped she was pregnant, the rough maths she had done while she had been waiting worked out that if she were, their baby would have been conceived around the anniversary, and would be born around Matt’s birthday, which just seemed to fit.

By the time her sandwich and tea were ready, the tests were done too. Alex sat down at the kitchen table and tried to stop her shaking hands as the tests slid out of the box and into her waiting hand, clasping them tightly. With one in each hand, Alex took a deep breath and looked down.

Pregnant. 2-3 weeks.

It was written on both of the tests, clear as day. She was pregnant. The tests clattered to the table as she let out a happy laugh, her face lighting up. Matt would be so happy, she couldn’t wait to tell him. Alex could just imagine his face as it dawned on him, how happy he would be, how terrified, and excited. Salome too. Her daughter had mentioned them having a baby a few times, she was desperate to be a big sister, and would be delighted when they told her.

Her hand and eyes dropped down to her stomach, her thumb rubbing gentle circles on her abdomen over her jumper.

“Hello baby. I can’t wait to meet you.” She said quietly, unable to keep the smile from her face.

When Matt came home a couple of hours later, happy that his audition had gone well and confident he had the part in the bag, his happiness was nothing compared to that of his wife. Her whole being seemed to smile, and she was flicking around the house with glee. Alex greeted him in the kitchen, starting to prepare dinner, with a thorough snog, leaving her pressed up against the counter, with Matt subtly grinding his hips against hers.

“What’s got you so cheerful then?” Matt asked, offering Alex a glass of wine, and not even noticing when she declined, picking up the bottle of water she had next to her instead.

“Good day.” She said simply, returning her attention back to chopping the vegetables.

“Must be a very good day, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this happy, except for our wedding day maybe.” Matt continued, walking up behind Alex and wrapping his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder.

“A very good day. Let’s just say, I found out about an amazing opportunity that will be coming this way later in the year, but I can’t say more than that just yet.” Alex laughed at the pout of Matt’s lips, turning her head to kiss his cheek. “I’ll tell you soon, I promise.”

The feeling of Matt’s hands on her stomach made Alex’s toes curl, so desperate was she to tell him. He had no idea, that just a few centimetres under his finger tips, was their baby. A being that they had create together, through their love and a symbol of their devotion to each other. As hard as it was not to say anything, it was Valentine’s day the day after next, and Alex planned to tell Matt then instead.

“Ok, I trust you. Congratulations, on whatever it is. I’m sure you will be amazing.” He said, kissing her neck quickly, before excusing himself to go and call his agent.

“You’ll be amazing too.” She said to herself as Matt left the room. “You are a very lucky baby to have such a good daddy, not that he knows it yet.” She added, rubbing her stomach. The next day would be very hard indeed.

13th February 2012

She wanted to be certain. The feeling of having Matt wrapped around her all night, his hand unconsciously on her still toned stomach, made Alex want to be 100% sure that she was pregnant before she told him.

As soon as Matt left the house to take Salome to school, she ran to the toilet, and took the final two tests she had brought. Her body visibly relaxed, and her hand rested on her abdomen when she saw both tests gave her the same result that they had the day before. She was definitely pregnant.

She hid two of the tests in deep in the bathroom bin, wrapped in toilet roll, and the other two wrapped up in a box under their bed. Now, she was confident enough to go out and buy Matt some presents to tell him with.

She left him in the doorway, kissing his cheek quickly, and told him that she was just popping into town to buy him a couple of last minute Valentine’s gifts, and she wasn’t listening to his protests that he didn’t need anything, as long as he had her.

When Matt was getting ready to go and collect Salome from school a few hours later, he really thought Alex would have been back.

“I thought Mum would be home before us.” Salome commented, walking through the house, looking for her mother. “She said she would be.”

“She’s probably just caught in traffic.” Matt told her, picking up Salome’s school bag as she had dumped it on the floor. “That doesn’t live there, poppet!” He admonished.

The pair sat down on the sofa, chatting about their days with a glass of lemonade each, and waited patiently for Alex to return.

“Dad?” Salome asked, both smiling at her name for him, it still sounded so bizare, yet so right at the same time. “Is something going on with Mum? Yesterday and this morning, she just seemed a bit… strange.”

“No.” Matt answered, what he thought was truthfully. “She got some good news yesterday, something about an amazing opportunity at the end of the year. Think she might have been offered a big part in something, because she had a meeting with her agent, but that’s it. She won’t tell me what it is though!”

Salome let the subject drop, returning to telling Matt all about how her classmates had been acting up in science, seemingly hell bent on making their teacher cry until Alex returned 20 minutes later.

Finding the sort of thing she had been after hadn’t been easy, shops were full of Valentine’s gifts, not pregnancy announcements. It had meant changing her plan slightly, but Alex finally had a few gifts for Matt, and couldn’t wait to tell him.

When Matt was showering that evening, Alex locked herself in the spare room, so she could wrap his presents. Looking at everything laying on the floor, she might have gone a little bit overboard, but it was their first Valentine’s day as man and wife.

“And he is worth it.” She whispered to the baby. She had done that the whole way through her pregnancy with Salome, talking to the bump constantly, it seemed she was starting early this time.

By the time Matt was out, Alex was done and laying in bed, with the gift bag on the floor, impatient for the morning to come round.

14th February 2012

Alex woke first. She was awake before her alarm went off. Turning slowly, she watched Matt sleep for a moment before she couldn’t wait any longer, she had to wake him up and tell him.

She pressed a kiss to his neck, followed swiftly after by another lower down, trailing feather light kisses down his chest, her hands braced either side of his torso as he stirred. His morning erection was already pressing insistently against Alex’s body once she had pushed him onto his back.

“Good morning, honey. Happy Valentine’s.” She purred into his ear, feeling Matt’s eyelids flutter open against her cheek. “I’ve got presents for you.”

Suddenly, Matt was awake, flipping them so that he straddled Alex’s thighs, kissing his way down her throat.

“Good morning to you too, Mrs Smith. I might have a present for you too.” He teased, taking her hand and placing it over the crotch of his boxers.

She squeezed him gently, smirking at the groan he made. “As much as I like the look of this present, you have to open yours first.”

Alex pushed her husband off of her before leaning down and grabbing the love heart adorned gift bag from the floor. Matt eagerly tore the wrapping paper from his first few gifts, a teddy saying ‘I love my husband’, a jar of his favourite sweets, a framed photo of the pair of them on their honeymoon and a vintage Rolling Stones t-shirt.

The smaller, more important gifts were hidden at the bottom of the bag. The first one he opened was a small cream babygrow saying ‘Daddy, I can’t talk yet, but I want you to know I love you more and more everyday’.

“Alex...” Matt whispered, as he held the impossibly tiny babygrow in his large hands.

“It was so cute, I just couldn’t resist it! We’ll need it one day.” She told him, hoping to put him off a little. “Go on, open this one next.” She said, passing another present over.

The next one, was a book of baby names. She could see the realisation slowly dawn on Matt, but could tell he didn’t want to ask. He placed it to the side with a soft, hopeful smile, before he reached down and grabbed the last present, a long, thin box.

He thought he knew what it was. He hoped he knew what it was. His hands lifted the lid, savouring the moment until he couldn’t stop the smile as he saw what was inside.

Two sticks, side by side. Both saying the same thing.

Pregnant. 2-3 weeks.

“You’re going to be a daddy, darling. I’m pregnant!”

Matt couldn’t stop looking at the tests, and the baby grow in his lap.

He was silent for a long time, and Alex started worrying a bit, her hormones already all over the place.

“Matt?” She asked softly, lifting his chin with her finger. “Are you ok?”

It was when she lifted his face that she saw the tears streaming down his cheeks, and the bright smile playing across his lips.

“Seriously?” He asked. “You’re pregnant?”

Alex could only nod her head, tears streaming down her own cheeks, watching his hands shake.

“We’re having a baby!” Matt whispered, dropping the tests onto the duvet and easing Alex back down onto the pillows. “There’s a baby in there, our baby. Oh my god, Salome is going to be so happy.” He kissed her abdomen, placing his hand lightly over it for a moment, before running his finger from her navel down to the waistband of her knickers, trying to feel for any signs of a baby bump. “How long have you known?”

“My amazing opportunity coming our way later in the year? I haven’t been to the doctor’s yet, but I think it will be due around your birthday, maybe a little earlier.”

Matt crawled up her body, careful not to put any weight on her stomach. “I don’t want to give you my present now.” He said sadly. “Because it will never be enough to say thank you for the wonderful present you have given me.”

“You’re happy then?”

“More than you will ever know!” Matt slanted his lips over Alex’s, hoping his kiss showed her just how happy he was. “I love you, so fucking much. Ooh! Should probably watch my language with a little one around.”

“You’re ok for now, they can’t hear anything until about half way through the pregnancy.” She joked back, wrapping her arms around him. “And I don’t care about what you brought me, because you have given me the best present ever as well. You’ve given me this.” She said, their hands linked together on her stomach. “And I’ll never be able to thank you enough for that.”

They both wanted to spend the day in bed, basking in the glow of their news and making love, enjoying their first Valentine's day as a married couple, but Salome had to be driven to school, and the pair had scripts that needed studying.

By the time Salome came home, the scripts were learnt and dinner was cooking. Matt know understood how hard it must have been for Alex to not let on over the last couple of days that something was going on. He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs, tell the whole world, that Alex was having his baby, and that the four of them would be the perfect family, everything he had ever wanted. Alex didn't want to tell Salome though.

"Please can we tell her." Matt pleaded, almost down on his knees, begging in front of Alex. "She'll be so happy."

"I know she will darling, but equally, she will be so devastated if something went wrong. That's still a possibility at the moment, Matt. There's quite a high risk of miscarriage for the first few weeks, and I'm only classed as 4 or 5 weeks gone. We should wait until 12 weeks ideally. I just couldn't bear to tell her that I'd lost the baby. I couldn't do that, to any of us. Please, we just have to keep it to ourselves for a little while longer."

Matt pouted, pulling the puppy dog eyes he knew Alex couldn't resist. "Pretty please?"

Alex grabbed his shoulder, and pulled him up from the floor. "Stop being ridiculous Matthew, and you have overused the eye thing, I can say no to it now! Do you want to run the risk of having to tell Salome that something has happened, while we are trying to get through it ourselves? Miscarriages hurt, Matt. Not just physically but emotionally. Do you want to have to deal with Salome being upset when we will be hurting ourselves? I can't risk it."

Matt thought about Alex's words. Keeping quiet would be incredibly hard, but he knew he had to do it. Alex was right, and he hated admitting that. Telling Salome that Alex had lost the baby would be the hardest thing he would ever have to do.

"Ok. We'll keep it to ourselves." He finally relented. "But come week 12, I'm telling everyone that will listen!"

Alex made a non commital noise. "We'll see about that." She answered.

When they were laying it bed that night, Matt made sure he was very thorough in pleasuring Alex. It was amazing that he hadn't noticed before. Her breasts were fuller, more sensitive and her nipples were a shade darker. Once they had finished, and feeling sated, falling asleep, Matt tickled her abdomen lightly.

"I had a dream the other night, the night before you found out actually. I wasn't going to mention it, didn't want to tempt fate or anything, but now I realise it must have been a premonition. I dreamt that you were pregnant. The three of us were spending the day at the beach, in the middle of the summer, a lovely hot, sunny day. Salome was swimming in the sea, and you were sunbathing in a very fetching black bikini. I was busy rubbing sun cream onto the bump, you were maybe 5 or 6 months? I woke up feeling so happy, it just felt perfect. I even had my hand on your stomach and I was disappointed when I realised there wasn't a bump there. I had no idea that you actually were pregnant!"

"Well, neither did I at that point! Sounds like a lovely dream though. Maybe if the weather is good over the summer then we could spend the day at the beach, see if reality lives up to fantasy."


	19. Big sister blues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Oh Sal...” He whispered sadly, picking up a candid photo of the three of them from the wedding, all smiling away brightly. He studied the photo intently, focussing on Salome, his fingertip tracing her smile. How could her feelings have changed so much in the short time since the wedding?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.... I got locked out of my account for weeks on end and couldn't update, but here I am! Also... changed my username so it's the same as my instagram account! Go find me if you haven't already!
> 
> Hope you enjoy this chapter, it's one of my favourites, as always, let me know! Leave a comment!

**23rd January 2040**

**Rose looked between her parents with glee. She was nearly 25 years old, but had never really thought about it before, her brother really was a honeymoon baby.**

**“You two really didn’t hang about, did you? I’ve never thought about that before!” She giggled, sobering slightly when the early hour hit her, and the thought of her parents… making babies…. Came into her mind.**

**“Well, why would we? We both knew that we wanted a baby, so we thought we might as well get on with it.” Matt told her calmly, before getting up and pacing around. “At least we waited until we were married, unlike those two!”**

**A scream of sheer agony emanated through the halls, making Rose blanche with fear, she was the only one among them that had no first hand experience of childbirth.**

**“Is that Lucy?” She whispered in fear.**

**“No, not yet. Another few hours at least yet until the pain really starts for her.” Alex stated. “Whoever that is, is giving birth right now.”**

**“Well, I suppose you would know out of all of us, having done it so much.” Salome added. “I’ve got to say, you did well keeping it from me for so long. I was convinced that I would be able to tell the minute Mum fell pregnant, but until you told me, I didn’t have a clue.”**

**“I bet you were thrilled, finally getting a baby brother or sister.” Rose told her sister.**

**“Yeah… Something like that.” Salome said.**

28th March 2012

Matt and Alex were sat in the living room on a dull, Wednesday morning, waiting for Salome to wake up. Alex couldn’t quite believe that her baby girl was a teenager now. 13 years ago, she had been clutching her mother’s hand in the most excruciating agony she had ever experienced, she was so young herself, and so scared. How could she have gotten herself into this situation, and how would she be able to cope? Her parents had been life savers, they had been there for her and her baby, no matter what, and she couldn’t have done it without them.

They had finally decided to tell Salome today that she would be a big sister. Alex was nearly 12 weeks pregnant, and was slowly developing an unmistakable bump, which she had taken to covering with scarves or baggy tops, making the most of the cold weather. She had finally relented to Matt’s begging to tell Salome the previous Friday, when they had had their first scan. When she knew that everything was looking good with the baby, then Alex decided that she was confident that it was safe enough to tell Salome. Matt had been the one with the bright idea to tell her on her birthday, the ‘ultimate birthday present’ he’d called it.

Salome came crawling down the stairs shortly after 7am, she never had been a morning person. Her hair was stuck up at all sorts of unnatural looking angles and her pyjamas were crumpled from tossing and turning in her sleep.

“Happy birthday!” Her parents called, both enveloping her in a hug as soon as she was close enough. Alex was incredibly grateful that Salome had used the new shampoo that she had brought the night before. The sickly strawberry smell of the old one had been making Alex feel ill.

They passed Salome a few presents at a time, wondering slightly if they had spoilt her a bit too much with the sheer number of presents piling up around her. After she had opened her new phone, as well as clothes, jewellery, make up, books and stationery, Alex could tell by the look on Salome’s face that she thought she had opened them all.

As she stood up, she hugged her parents quickly, before going to excuse herself to get ready for school.

“Wait a minute Sal, there’s another present here.” Alex said, handing Salome the final gift. “Come and sit down and open it.”

Salome perched herself on the coffee table in front of them, looking quizzical at her mum and dad’s excited faces. Slowly, she tore the paper from the flat, square gift, and dropped it to the floor, holding in her hands, the back of a photo frame. When she turned it over, she gasped aloud. The silver frame had the words ‘I love my big sister’ engraved on it, surrounded by beautiful butterflies, and in the frame was a picture of an ultrasound.

"Is this? Are you having a baby?" She asked excitedly, looking up at Matt and Alex's expectant faces. 'Mum, are you pregnant?"

"I am. You're going to have a little brother or sister." Alex smiled, laughing when Salome sprang up from the coffee table, tears of joy streaming across her face.

As she held Matt and Alex close, Salome's hands wouldn't stop shaking, her whole body couldn't stop. Never in her life had she felt this excited before.

"Oh my God. Oh my God." Was all she could manage to say, whispering it over and over again. When she finally pulled back, she saw her parents crying as well, happy that she was happy.

"When's it due?"

"October 14." Alex answered quickly. "The only thing we ask of you, is that you don't tell anybody yet. It's still early days, and there's a lot of things that could go wrong yet, it's not likely, but there's a small chance. So, you can't tell anybody for the next few weeks, especially your grandparents, because we need to tell them."

Salome nodded her head solemnly. She knew from her biology lessons at school that there was a high risk of miscarriage early on, but she knew her mum wouldn't have told her unless she was almost certain things would go well.

"Can I see it? Your tummy, I mean? Is there a bump?"

Alex pushed down the waistband of her skirt, and lifted her t-shirt slightly, showing off the beginning of her bump.

"Wow! Look! That's my brother or sister." Salome said in awe.

"Which do you think it is? I think it's a boy, your mum isn't sure though." Matt asked.

Salome placed her hands on her mum's stomach, and pulled her face close to it too.

"Yeah, I think it's a boy, but I'd be happy with either."

She spent a few more minutes talking with her parents about the baby, before she finally looked at the time and realised she was going to be late if she didn’t hurry up.

Once Salome had run back to her bedroom, Alex leant into Matt's side, snuggling against him as he draped his arm around her shoulders.

"I think she's happy." He commented quietly, pressing a kiss to Alex's riotous curls.

"Hmm. It will make the morning sickness easier, not having to hide it."

"Roll on October 14th, I think." Matt replied, satisfied with knowing that by the time he turned 29 that year, he would have everything he had ever wanted.

27th May 2012

Alex hummed a tune as she cooked their dinner, not paying attention to what was going on around her. Her scan early that morning had gone well, and the baby had been in a good position for them to be confident that it was a boy, just like Matt and Salome had guessed. Her and Matt had agreed that they would tell Salome it was a boy later in the evening, the blue blanket that they had brought to show her was hiding in a bag in the cupboard under the stairs.

She knew that Salome was upstairs, meant to be doing her English homework, and hopefully not messing around on facebook, and Matt was busy putting away the laundry he had done earlier.

As Alex finished dishing up, she placed a hand on her stomach, feeling her baby kicking away.

"You're going to be a footballer. Just like your daddy, aren't you?" She laughed, rubbing her bump lightly. Those little pushes she had been feeling for the last month or so were slowly getting stronger, and she knew it wouldn't be long before Matt and Salome would be able to feel it too. "Dinner!" She called upstairs.

Salome came thundering down immediately, with a call from Matt that he would only be a minute.

Matt picked up the pile of washing from his and Alex's bed, and carried it into Salome's room to leave on her bed.

"Salome!" He moaned quietly, noting that she had left the fairy lights around her bed on again. "Turn the lights off!"

Matt knelt on the bed, one hand on the wall, fumbling for the switch that he knew was hiding down the back against the wall. As his hand reached lower and lower, the diary that Salome had left on her bed caught his eye.

"And put the lid on your pen!" He groaned, knowing that Alex would moan if Salome had got ink all over the duvet covers, having left her fountain pen with the lid off resting in the centre of the open book. Once the lights were off, Matt grabbed the pen, and clicked the lid back on, starting to stand up again when he stopped suddenly, sitting back down in shocked at the words he saw. He picked the diary up, a present from them for her birthday, it looked just like River Song's diary.

'They don't want me any more.'

'They only love the baby.'

'Mum and Dad only care about the baby.'

‘I’ve only just got a real family, with a mum and a dad, and now it’s being taken away from me.’

The more Matt read, the more he could feel his heart physically breaking.

“Matt! Your dinner is getting cold!” He heard Alex shout up the stairs.

“Yeah, I’m coming.” He replied quickly, flicking back over the last few pages, saying much the same sort of thing. The bed was covered in photos at he could see Salome had pulled down from where they had been clipped to the strings of fairy lights, photos of the three of them over the last couple of years, of her and Alex before Matt entered their lives, of just her and Matt, and some of just her mum and him.

Matt thought back, almost manically over the last few weeks, wondering if they really had left Salome out, if they had done anything to make her feel unloved and unwanted, when that was so far from the case. Matt knew, more certain than he was of anything else, that neither himself or Alex had started loving Salome any less since the baby. Salome was the most important girl in their lives, and neither of them would ever want her to think she was anything less.

“Oh Sal...” He whispered sadly, picking up a candid photo of the three of them from the wedding, all smiling away brightly. He studied the photo intently, focussing on Salome, his fingertip tracing her smile. How could her feelings have changed so much in the short time since the wedding? She had been so happy when they got married, and when they told her that they were having a baby. He couldn’t understand it.

Although he knew he shouldn’t, Matt flicked to the front of her diary, and read the first few pages. They hadn’t been imagining things, she had been genuinely excited about the baby, it seemed things had only changed in the last 5 or 6 weeks.

He carefully left everything as he had found it, and closed her bedroom door to head downstairs for dinner before Alex shouted again. The whole way through the meal, he was keeping an eye on Salome, checking for any sign of upset or anger from her, but couldn’t see anything too worrying, she still smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes, and she seemed a little quieter. Either, she was exaggerating in her diary, or she was a very good actress like her mother. Should he tell Alex? If Alex found out that their having a baby had made Salome feel like anything less than the most special little girl ever, then she would be devastated. The guilt that Matt felt was almost crippling, he couldn’t begin to imagine what it would do to Alex, she would feel like she was being made to chose between her children. Matt looked across the table to Alex, happily smiling at Salome with such love, but leaning back in her chair and rubbing her bump with the other. He couldn’t do that to her. Alex loved both of her children equally, and would go to the ends of the earth for them. He couldn’t burden her with the guilt if he didn’t have to.

Salome headed back upstairs after dinner, leaving Matt and Alex on the sofa. Matt was flipping through the channels on the TV mindlessly, while Alex read through a script her agent had sent her. Matt’s mind was furiously thinking about Salome, and how he could make things better.

“Lex?” He asked quietly, turning the TV off. “Does Salome seem ok to you?”

The mention of her daughter snapped Alex’s attention away from her script, and she pulled her glasses off, leaving them on top of her script that she placed on the coffee table.

“She seems fine to me. Why? Has she said something? Is she still having trouble with those girls at school?” She asked worriedly.

The look of worry on Alex’s face was all Matt needed to know he couldn’t let Alex know about this, at least not until he had sorted it. He hadn’t even mentioned the baby, and she was already starting to panic.

“I was just wondering. She seems a bit quiet to me. I don’t think it’s those girls though.”

“I hope not, her teacher said he had dealt with them. She’s a teenage girl though, they go through all sorts of moods. I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.”

Matt leant across and kissed Alex softly. “I love you, beautiful.”

“Love you too.” She replied instantly, getting back to studying her script as Matt left the room.

He went upstairs into their en-suite bathroom, and ran a nice, hot bubble bath for Alex, filling the tub with a concoction of lotions and salts. She deserved a bit of pampering.

“Alex!” He called. “Come up here.”

When Alex joined him in the bathroom, she smiled when she saw the bath filled. “Ooh! Lucky me! Are you joining me?”

“Not this time, beautiful. Take your time, you deserve a nice soak.” He left her in the bathroom alone, pulling off her clothes, and wondering what she had done to deserve such a loving husband.

Alex loved a bath. She would easily be in there for the best part of an hour, maybe maybe more if she decided to wash her hair. That gave Matt plenty of time to talk to Salome alone.

“Knock knock.” Matt said, knocking lightly on Salome’s door as he opened it. “Can I talk to you for a minute? Your mum’s in the bath.”

Salome smiled up at him, patting the bed beside her. “Sure, what’s up?”

As soon as he sat down, Matt couldn’t stop himself from hugging Salome. “I love you, you know that? And your mum. We both love you so much. You are the most important and special girl I’ve ever met, and I don’t want you to ever forget that.”

“Why are you saying that, Dad?” She asked. Matt could hear the slight tinge of sadness in her voice.

“Don’t be mad at me, but when I was putting your washing away earlier, I had to turn your lights off. You left your diary open on the bed, and I saw some of what you had written.” Salome made to pull away from him, turning her head away as tears brewed, but Matt wouldn’t let her get far, holding her shoulders tightly and making her look at him. “Sal, please don’t ever feel like you are anything less than the most precious things in our lives, and me and your mum having a baby won’t change that. Why couldn’t you talk to us if you were feeling like that?”

Salome wiped away a tear, finally looking up at Matt. “Because you would think it’s silly, or I’m being selfish. It just seems like recently, everything is about the baby. Everyone is always asking me about the baby, how Mum’s doing, and when’s it due, do we know if it’s a boy or a girl, will you release photos or do one of those cheesy magazine shoots? And I’m sick of it. Nobody ever asks about me any more. When you talk to me, one of you will always have your hand on the bump. It’s like nobody even notices me anymore.” She said sadly.

Matt cupped her cheeks, and rested his forehead against hers. “Please don’t think that. We still love you so much, and our lives would be so much duller without you. We are not replacing you Salome.”

“But-”

“No buts, poppet. Me and your mum are not replacing you with this baby. Do you really think I would have proposed to you like I did if I planned on replacing you a few months later? If we have done anything over the last few weeks to make you feel like that, then I am so sorry, you have to believe me that it wasn’t intentional. Us having a baby is a big deal, and it should be to you too. We want you to be excited about it as well.”

“I’m not going to be a very good big sister.” Salome whispered into Matt’s hair, having pulled him closer to her as she cried, her whole body sobbing. “The baby will hate me.”

Matt couldn’t stop the tear that escaped him as he held the girl he completely considered to be his daughter close to his chest.

“Salome Smith, you will be the most incredible sister. Your little brother is going to love and admire you so much.”

“Brother? It’s a boy?” Salome choked.

“Don’t tell Mum I told you, she’s looking forward to telling you later, but yeah, we found out yesterday. It’s a boy, just like me and you thought.” When he felt the slight smile against his neck, Matt knew he was getting through to her. “We aren’t ignoring you. Last Sunday when you insisted on watching Glee all day, I wouldn’t have endured that if I didn’t love you, trust me! When we went to the castle the other week so you could see the old defences, we did that for you. You and Mum having your little girls evening the other night, when you kicked me out of the house, we did that for you. Yes, when the baby comes, we will be busier, and things will be hard, so we are going to need your help. Me, Mum and your little brother all need you, poppet, but we will involve you more if that will help. It breaks my heart to think you’ve been feeling like this, and if Mum ever found out, she would be devastated.”

“I’m sorry, I’ve just been selfish.”

Matt just hugged Salome closer, whispering to her that she had no reason to be sorry, until she stopped crying, and he left her alone for just a minute, running into his bedroom quickly, grabbing something that had been on his bedside table.

“Your mum asked me to pick a name for the baby, because she got to pick yours.” Matt said, walking back into Sal’s room as she wiped away the remaining tears. “I’ve been through this book hundreds of times, but I can’t pick one. There are so many names I like. I think, if it would make you feel better, I want to give you this.” He said, producing the baby names book Alex had given him for Valentine’s day from behind his back. “This book is how Mum told me she was pregnant, before I unwrapped the tests on Valentine’s day morning. I want you to name him.”

Salome’s hands shook as she took the book from Matt, flicking through the pages, noting the small, sticky labels hanging out of it, marking names he had liked. “You want me to pick his name?”

“I think you can do it. Just a few rules though, and they are Mum’s rules, not mine. No naming him after one of us, and, quick rule I’m just adding, not after a celebrity you are currently obsessed with! So no Niall or Zayn, just because you love One Direction. We want something a bit unusual, but not too mad, so not John or Chris or Sam, but not Rocket Ship, or Sherlock either, if you get what I mean. Last one, just be careful of his initials. Don’t let them spell out ass or something else rude! Do you think you can do that?” He asked.

Salome nodded her head, the importance of her task sinking in. “I think so.”

“And Mum will hold full power of veto if it’s that bad, so don’t tell her until he’s born! Just don’t tell her, and when we tell you later that it’s a boy, make sure you act surprised!”

He gave Salome a hug, making her put the name book away before pulling her up onto her feet, and practising her ‘surprised’ reaction to the news the baby was a boy, resulting in lots of giggles from the pair of them as Matt found increasingly ridiculous ways of telling her.

“What are you two up to?” Alex asked, bursting through the door, catching the pair messing around.

“Just having fun.” Salome answered quickly. “Dad said you know whether it’s a boy or a girl. Can you tell me please?”

Alex shot Matt a withering look, telling them both to come downstairs. She sat Salome on the sofa, and pulled the thick carrier bag from the cupboard.

When she was stood in front of Sal, Alex held the bag open with open hand as Matt sat next to Salome.

“In this bag, is a blanket we brought yesterday. If it’s a girl, it’s pink, and if it’s a boy… Then it’s a blue blanket. Ready?” Alex asked.

Salome smiled brightly, looking across at Matt as she held his hand. “Yeah. Show me!”

Slowly, Alex’s hand slid into the bag, grasping the blanket, and she pulled it out. Salome squealed as the blue was revealed to her, letting her know that she was going to get a little brother.

“It’s a boy! I’m getting a little brother!” She cheered, hugging her Mum and Dad, winking at Matt when Alex couldn’t see, hoping her performance was believable. His wink back told her that it was.

A few minutes later, once the excitement had died down, Alex was sat on the sofa next to Matt, with Salome’s head in her lap. Her finger’s brushed through her daughter’s hair as they watched TV together, discussing how they could finally decorate the nursery properly now, and making plans to do so over the following days. The room fell silent, until Alex and Salome gasped at the same time, with Salome sitting up straight.

“What was that?” She said, touching the back of her head. “I felt something.”

“That’s the baby kicking. It’s the strongest one I’ve felt yet. Did he kick your head? Might have a bit of sibling rivalry to deal with darling.” She joked to Matt, not realising the solemn look between him and Salome. “Give me your hands.”

Matt and Salome both placed a hand on Alex’s stomach, feeling the baby move for the first time.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” Matt said quietly, kissing Alex’s cheek.

“It’s more than amazing, it’s… there’s no words for it. Incredible, wonderful, marvellous.” Salome babbled on, unable to take her eyes or hands from the bump.

As Matt watched his daughter, talking softly to her little brother, having been told that he could now hear things from the outside, he knew that her jealousy was over, now she had felt her brother move. It felt like he was trying to prove to his sister already just how much he loved her, in the only way he could, letting her know that he was there. It had been just the sign that Salome had needed to know that everything would be ok.


	20. Dad shock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You never told me.” She said quietly to Salome. “All these years, all of the other children, and you never told me.” She added sadly. “You should have done. You should have told me too you idiot!” Alex smacked Matt’s arm in anger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not gonna lie.... might have forgotten about this! 
> 
> Please someone remind me to write and publish more often!!!!!

**23rd January 2040**

**Alex sat silently on the hard, uncomfortable hospital chair, her mouth hanging open in shock, tears streaming down her face.**

**“You never told me.” She said quietly to Salome. “All these years, all of the other children, and you never told me.” She added sadly. “You should have done. You should have told me too you idiot!” Alex smacked Matt’s arm in anger.**

**“We didn’t want too. I was just being self-centred and immature Mum, and what Dad said is true. If you’d known, it would have felt like I was making you choose between me and the baby, and Dad made me realise that I couldn’t have done that to you. I was just being silly.” Salome tried reassuring her. “Once we had spoken, I realised that I wasn’t being left out, I just didn’t realise how much you two always did for me, and getting to pick his name was quite fun!”**

**Alex stood from her chair, and enveloped her eldest in a tight hug, crying as she did so. The guilt she felt now was immense, it would have been suffocating had she known back then. “I’m so sorry that we made you feel that way my darling, you have always meant so much to me, you know that. I would be lost without you, without you, I wouldn’t have been able to cope with everything else that was to come, especially once the twins came along and Matt couldn’t help as much. I love you so much.” She said, kissing the top of her daughters head lightly. “But, we...” She started telling Matt, poking him in the chest. “We will continue this conversation later.”**

**Matt looked between his daughters sheepishly, silently thanking his lucky stars that him and Alex had had sex the night before, because there was no doubt that Alex would be withholding sex for the next couple of nights at least, that seemed to be her favourite form of punishment.**

**“Sorry.” He mumbled, wrapping his arm around Alex’s shoulder comfortingly as she sat back down next to him. “I did it to protect you.” He said, daring to press a kiss to her curls, tied up in a messy ponytail at the back of her head, and squeezed her hand with his free one. “I would only do something like that to protect you, I only ever had your best interests at heart.”**

**“I know, and thank you darling, but that doesn’t change the fact that you should have told me. I could have made things better, I should never have let Sal feel like that in the first place!”**

**“It was fine, Dad reminded me just how much both of you loved me, and once we started really getting ready for the baby, then I was filled with just as much excitement as both of you.” Salome told them both.**

5th August 2012

Matt had been offered the leading role in a BBC period drama, which had meant that he hadn’t been able to help his girls decorate the nursery, and they had refused to do it without him.

Now, with Alex 30 weeks pregnant, he had finished filming for a week before he had to go back to Cardiff to finish filming Doctor Who, and he was determined that by the end of that week, the nursery would be finished and the whole house would be ready for the baby.

“Right girls!” He declared excitedly, early in the morning of his first day off as they both enjoyed their breakfast. “It’s baby time!”

“Darling, it’s not baby time. I think I would know!” Alex told him sarcasticly. “This baby isn’t coming out any time soon.”

“Well I know that, beautiful. I meant, it’s time to get ready for the baby. There’s a spare room up there filled with bags and boxes for the baby, and the walls are still naked. It needs decorating and sorting.”

That was how, three hours later, the three of them were upstairs in the spare room, wearing old clothes, or in Alex’s case, some of Matt’s old clothes, putting the bags and boxes into one of the other rooms so they could start painting. Alex had a photo printed out that she had seen online, and had her heart set of recreating it in her son’s bedroom.

The walls and ceiling were painted a pale, sky blue, and once that had dried, Alex carefully stood up on a ladder, with Matt close by to support her constantly, so she could paint soft, fluffy looking white clouds onto the top of the walls and ceiling.

By the time they were done a couple of days later, with the rest of the room kitted out with black and white furniture, and space themed art on the walls, everyone was exhausted, but pleased with their work.

When Matt and Alex were laying in bed that night, both of them curled up together, stroking hands over the bump, Alex finally brought up the name of their baby.

“Have you picked out a name yet, sweetheart? I’m getting a bit bored of calling him baby all the time. Thinking about it, I haven’t seen you even look at the name book in weeks.” She said.

“I didn’t tell you, did I?” Matt groaned, turning so he could see Alex’s face. “I told Salome that she could pick the name. Remember a few weeks ago, when I asked if you thought there was anything wrong with her? I had a chat with her whilst you were in the bath, and she was a bit upset, so to cheer her up I said she could name the baby.”

“You have let a 13 year old girl name our baby? She’s going to name it after some boyband member!”

“No, I told her the same rules you gave me, and I said it couldn’t be after her latest crush. It had to be sensible.” Matt reassured Alex quietly. “I trust her to make a good choice, and if she doesn’t, then I did say that we have full power of veto!”

Alex turned over, snuggling up to her pillow. “I hope you are right.”

Matt slowly moved his body closer to Alex’s, pressing a kiss to her bare shoulder, and whispered his love for her, and wished her a goodnight, praying in his head that Salome wouldn’t let him down.

**23rd January 2040**

**“I think I did a pretty good job naming him.” Salome commented wryly, just as Zach came bursting down the hallway like a whirlwind, rubbing his hands through his hair in a way that reminded everyone so much of Matt.**

**He stopped in the waiting area for just a second, looking at his family with a look of sheer terror in his eyes, a look that Matt recognised instantly. Zach fled down the hallway, running as fast as his legs would carry him.**

**Rose and Salome looked at each other worriedly, panicking that something had gone wrong, but a quick look at their parents told them that this was something that had almost been expecting.**

**“Do you want to or should I?” Alex asked Matt, patting him on the knee.**

**Matt thought for a moment, before deciding. “I think you should. He’s always been a mummy’s boy let’s face it! You go and sort him out, tell him from me to put his big girl knickers on, and I’ll keep these two trouble makers occupied.”**

**Alex kissed her husband on the lips quickly, before standing and kissing each of her daughter’s heads lightly, running off down the hallway after her son.**

**“Dad shock.” Matt told his daughters as soon as she had left. “I should know.”**

**It took Alex a little while, and she had to ask a couple of nurses if they had seen him, but she eventually tracked Zach down to a quiet corridor, slumped against the wall with his head in his hands. Alex’s heartstrings were tugged by the image of her son looking so scared, looking just like a little boy again, when he’d come up to her and say he’d fallen off of his bike, or had been naughty at school. Even when he had made his debut for the England football team a couple of seasons before, she had never seen him look so panicked. She walked up to him and crouched down, placing her hand on his shoulder.**

**“It’s ok honey. You’re allowed to be scared. It’s why we are all here for you.” She said soothingly, as Zach turned into her, burying his face in the crook of her neck.**

**After a few minutes, Alex persuaded him to stand up, and they took a walk together, ending up in the hospital garden a couple of corridors away. They sat on the bench, overlooking a fish pond, and watched in silence for a while as the gold fish swam around, calming them both.**

**“I can’t do this.” Zach eventually said, his resolve breaking as tears brewed in his eyes. “I kick a bloody football for a living. I don’t have any other skills! How the hell can I care for a child?”**

**Alex laughed softly, wrapping her coat closer around herself to ward off the cold, January air.**

**“Zachary Steven Smith, that is complete and utter bullshit.” She told him, taking his hand in her own. “You will make a fantastic father, and everyone knows it. Look at how you are with Sal’s children, you are an amazing uncle, and you didn’t once shy away from babysitting or changing nappies like Rose or Seb did. You were more than happy to get down to business with them.”**

**“But what if I fuck it all up?” Zach said quietly.**

**“Do you know what? When I was in labour with you, your father said the exact same words to me, and look at him now, one of the best father’s I’ve ever known.”**

**“He is the best, without a doubt, both of you, are amazing, the best parents anyone could ever wish for.”**

**“Exactly, Zach. He freaked out as well, believe me!” Alex told him, smiling at the memory of when she was in labour.**

**Author's Note:**

> Maybe I'll upload the next chapter tonight, maybe tomorrow, but it won't be long until you can find out what happened on the first date! Let me know what you think, you should all know by now that I'm a comment/kudos whore, I love them!!!!! xxx


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